Hey guys! I'm so sorry, no shout-outs this chapter, BUT TO MAKE UP FOR THAT, I HAVE ANOTHER SNEAK PEAK! And you guys don't have to read it, you know, if you want to keep everything a surprise, but you can totally read it if you want. I'm throwing it out there for ya. :D
Heather looked at him for a moment, and then nodded. "Alright," she said. "And what's the signal?"
"It'll be pretty obvious, I promise," Hiccup said.
ENJOY CHAPTER 5! :D
"Hiccup, what are you fiddling with!?" Heather asked, moving Windshear to get closer to Hiccup, to see just what it was he was working on. Hiccup was messing with a small, cylinder-like object as thick as the hilt of a sword, a bottle of Monstrous Nightmare gel, and another, smaller bottle of Zippleback gas.
"Element of surprise," said Hiccup, loading the gas into one end of the cylinder and the Monstrous Nightmare gel in the other end. "I've been working on this design for a few months now without the rest of the riders knowing."
"So, it really is a surprise?" said Heather.
"Well, sort of," said Hiccup. "Astrid knows I was working on it, but she doesn't know I finished the prototype." He closed both ends of the cylinder and tested its weight. "Perfect," he said. "Let's see if Viggo likes playing with fire."
"Something tells me you have a plan," said Heather.
"When don't I?" said Hiccup. "We have to give the Dragon Eye to Viggo, and I know he honors deals, so I don't think he'll hold back the other riders or take back his offer, but I know he's going to want to try and take me out...and probably you out, too, which is why we need to be ready. Got your axe?"
Heather nodded, raising her double-bladed axe up for Hiccup to see. Hiccup nodded. "Good," he said, "now, the only thing left to do is get to Dark Deep and go to the highest mountain."
Heather looked beyond the horizon, hand against her forehead. Then, suddenly, she gasped excitedly and pointed. "There!" she said. "North! We're coming up on something!"
Hiccup strapped the cylinder-like contraption to his leg and took up his spyglass, looking in the direction of Heather's pointed finger. "Yes! I see it!" he called, lowering his spyglass. "Dark Deep! We're almost there!"
The Changewings, Arrow Furies, Toothless, and Windshear roared in celebration, and then, they moved faster than ever, shooting like arrows towards the dark island of Dark Deep.
…
Astrid, Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs snuck through the corridors. The warning siren had finally stopped, but that didn't put any of them at ease. They ran as fast as they dared through the doors, Tuffnut in the lead, showing them the way to their dragons.
A soldier suddenly ran at them from behind. When he swung his sword, Tuffnut ducked, and when the soldier was caught off guard, Astrid knocked him unconscious with the flat of her axe. She moved on after Tuffnut, and the rest of the riders filed in behind her.
Then, they came up against a bit harder competition: three dragon hunters and two Berserkers, all of which looked furious, holding swords and axes in their hands. Snotlout stepped up beside Astrid, swinging an axe.
"I'll take the ones on the right," he said, "Fishlegs takes the ones on the left, and the rest of you will take the ones in the middle."
"Got it," said Astrid, Fishlegs, and the twins in unison, and they raised their weapons and charged, screaming furiously. Tuffnut bashed his sword against a Berserker's head and brought him down; Ruffnut flat-out tackled the nearest hunter, bashing him on the head repeatedly with the hilt of her sword. Meanwhile, Snotlout and Fishlegs took out their assigned soldiers, and Astrid took down the final one with one expertly landed blow.
Nothing, not even dragon hunters and Berserkers, was going to standing in their way. This was their last chance to escape; after this, they would, no doubt, be moved to more secluded cells, away from each other, and their dragons would be relocated, too, no doubt.
This was their chance.
They weren't going to blow it.
Or, at least, Astrid hoped they weren't.
"Come on!" said Tuffnut, motioning with his hand and beckoning them to follow him, once the hunters and Berserkers laid unconscious on the ground at their feet. "We have to keep moving! They're just around this corridor…"
He turned and sped on. Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Ruffnut jogged to keep up with him. They turned the corner; Astrid knocked out a guard and kept running. They rounded a bend; Fishlegs and Snotlout tackled two more soldiers, and then, when they were unconscious, got up and kept moving.
"Here!" said Tuffnut, pressing his hands against a door they had unexpectedly come upon. "But just to warn you, it's crawling with guards."
"If we don't get a move on soon," said Snotlout, looking over his shoulder, "this place will be crawling with guards. Open the door, Tuffnut. We're ready for it." He raised his axe for emphasis.
Ruffnut, Astrid, and Fishlegs raised their weapons beside him, and Tuffnut stepped back, raised his leg, and kicked down the door dramatically.
"BAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Tuffnut screamed, charging into the room, followed quickly by Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Ruffnut. The guards had obviously heard the warning bell when it went off, but they weren't prepared for the dragon riders to come breaking down doors into their prison.
Astrid went for the three guards standing in front of Stormfly's cage; she kicked one, who fell against the other, knocking them both down like dominoes. While they struggled to get up, Astrid shoved the third soldier against the wall and bashed the flat of her axe against his head. He fell on top of his companions, unconscious, and two final bashes left the other two soldiers unconscious as well.
"I kinda feel bad…" said Fishlegs, parrying with one of the two guards imprisoning Meatlug. "It's not the soldiers' faults they're just following orders!"
"They'll be fine!" said Snotlout, tripping a soldier who was running towards Tuffnut; the fall itself was enough to knock out the soldier. "It's not our fault we were kidnapped!"
Snotlout brought down his sword against the lock of Hookfang's cage and yanked the door open. Hookfang, with a roar of triumph, lit his wings on fire and growled at the nearest soldier, who instantly backed off, putting his hands up in surrender.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut dueled for a few moments against two other hunters, but the fight ended with the hunters unconscious and the twins victorious. They worked together to smash the locks, and after pulling open the cell door, Barf and Belch were free.
"Aww, I missed you, too!" said Ruffnut, when Barf nuzzled her. Belch bonked Tuffnut on the head, which was his way of saying "hello", and in response, Tuffnut bonked his head back.
Astrid kicked the lock until it broke, and she threw open Stormfly's cage. Stormfly instantly raced out, and Astrid embraced the dragon tightly around the neck.
"I'm happy to see you too, Stormfly," said Astrid.
Fishlegs finally got Meatlug's cage open, using the keyring Astrid had stolen from the hunter, and he ran to Meatlug, embracing her tightly. "Oh, girl, I'm so happy you're okay!" cried Fishlegs. "Come on, let's get out of here!"
"Wait!" said Snotlout. "Look at their legs! They're chained!"
This day couldn't have gotten any worse. Giant shackles rounded the dragons' right hind legs, and worse than that, they were forged by dragon-proof chains, which meant blasting them with dragonfire wouldn't help at all.
"Fishlegs! The keys!" Astrid shouted, and Fishlegs tossed them to her. She caught them and instantly began trying them out, key after key, to see which one matched Stormfly's lock.
"I hear footsteps!" Snotlout shouted, alarmed, taking up his axe again. "You guys start unlocking the dragons! I'll tell you if anyone's coming!"
Astrid finally unlocked Stormfly's shackle, and the metal fell away. "Got it!" said Astrid, taking Stormfly's key off the ring and throwing it to Fishlegs. "Unlock Meatlug, take the key off, and give it to the twins!"
"Why take the key off?" asked Tuffnut.
"So we don't try it a second time, obviously," said Ruffnut.
After two tries, Fishlegs managed to unlock Meatlug, and with a shout of "Done!" after taking off Meatlug's key, he threw the keyring to Ruffnut and Tuffnut next.
"After you guys unlock Barf and Belch," said Astrid, "unlock Hookfang!"
"Got it!" said the twins in unison, and they continued trying out the remaining keys until finally, they found the right one, slipped it into the keyhole, and turned it. The shackle fell off Barf and Belch's leg, and the Zippleback was free.
"Snotlout! Catch!" said Tuffnut, throwing the keys, and Snotlout grabbed them and charged over to Hookfang. Meanwhile, Astrid, Stormfly, Fishlegs, Meatlug, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Barf, and Belch headed for the door.
Snotlout was right. There were footsteps, and they were getting louder, approaching soldiers coming nearer and nearer. Astrid raised her axe, Stormfly's spines stuck up straight, and the rest of the dragons and riders took up their offensive formations.
"Got it!" said Snotlout in triumph, yanking the chains off Hookfang. The Monstrous Nightmare roared and raced towards the door without so much of a second thought. "You're welcome!" shouted Snotlout after him, angrily, and then, he raced after his dragon, joining the other riders.
"Okay, guys," Astrid said, "it's going to be close, no matter what happens." She glanced upwards at the wooden ceiling above them. "Hmm…" she said. "Ruffnut, Tuffnut, do you see the ceiling?"
Ruffnut and Tuffnut looked up and then gasped excitedly. "Does this mean…?" said Tuffnut, hardly daring to hope.
"Yes!" said Astrid. "We're going to blast the roof away!"
"YES!" cheered the twins excitedly, leaping onto their Zippleback in unison. Astrid jumped onto Stormfly's back, and Fishlegs and Snotlout mounted Meatlug and Hookfang.
"Everyone!" called Astrid. "Focus all your fire on the roof! We're busting out of here, one way or another!"
The other riders nodded, and the dragons raised their heads. They sucked in a deep breath, paused a heartbeat or two, and then, let loose all the fire they could muster.
The same moment the dragons fired, the door was thrown open, and in ran Ryker, trailed by dozens of dragon hunters and Berserkers alike. But it was too late for them to do anything by the time they filed into the room; Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, and Barf and Belch had already spread their wings and shot out of the gaping hole in the roof, into the dark twilight.
"Yes!" shouted Snotlout triumphantly. "We made it!"
"Yeaha!" cheered Tuffnut, throwing his fists into the air. "We did it!"
Astrid was just about to cheer, too, but then she realized something was wrong. There were no bolas. No ropes. No arrows trying to stop them. She looked down at the deck and saw Viggo standing there in the moonlight, watching her and the other riders in somewhat fascination and somewhat pity.
It was then Astrid realized just what she had missed. A giant net as big as a circus tent was stretched over the ship, made entirely out of thick, dragon-proof metal chains. It stretched over the ship and was bolted into the decks with dragon-proof metal.
The entire ship had been surrounded by nets the entire time, and Astrid hadn't even realized it. Viggo had put it there since the beginning. Somehow, he knew the riders would find their dragons, would find a way to escape, and he had prevented their escape ten-fold.
He had been one step ahead of them.
"No!" Astrid shouted, and this time, bolas and nets were thrown up at them; Ryker and his reinforcements had joined Viggo on the deck of the ship, and they launched bolas and dragon-proof nets up at the dragons and riders.
Astrid had no choice.
She turned Stormfly and landed on the decks before they were shot out of the sky and delivered bodily harm, and beside her, in equal defeat, landed Barf, Belch, Meatlug, and Hookfang, riders mounted on their backs.
Viggo stepped forward, slow clapping. "Well done," he congratulated, "well done. Unfortunately, I saw through your little scheme the entire time. The 'moving to a different cell', the 'visiting your dragon'..." He glanced at Tuffnut, who looked betrayed.
"It's alright, Tuffnut," said Snotlout, reaching over to pat Tuffnut's shoulder. "You're still brilliant."
"But not brilliant enough," said Ryker, stepping forward, crossbow in his hands. "Get off your dragons, before I shoot them where they stand."
For once, Viggo didn't object, and Astrid, Snotlout, the twins, and Fishlegs dismounted the dragons and stepped forward.
Soldiers grabbed them and bound them from behind, arms behind their backs. Their dragons were muzzled, their wings tied to their sides to ensure they didn't try to escape.
Astrid looked ahead. A dark island loomed, gigantic and towering, and she hadn't even noticed it until now, despite being so close to it. She gasped; beside her, Fishlegs gasped, too, though he sounded far more horrified than she.
"I'd recognize this place anywhere!" said Fishlegs. "Dark Deep! You brought us to Dark Deep!?"
"Why, yes, indeed," said Viggo, nodding, "and today is the final day in which Hiccup has to show himself and the Dragon Eye. If Hiccup does not relinquish the Dragon Eye...I will end your lives."
"And if Hiccup does relinquish the Dragon Eye?" growled Astrid.
Viggo smiled. "Then I will end his," he said.