Toothless, being a Night Fury, flew fast. This flight, however, seemed different. With a sense of urgency, the dragon flew faster than ever before, beating his wings with a fury akin to his name. It was all Hiccup could do to lay low and hang on. If not for his full-face helmet, his eyes would be streaming and breathing would be a nightmare.

How long they flew, Hiccup could only guess at a couple of hours. Judging by the sun's position in the sky, it had to be around midday by the time Toothless started to make any sense with his destination.

Even through his mask, Hiccup could smell something that was not all the pleasant, but bought about a hazy bliss that unsettled him. He decided to breathe through his mouth rather than smell whatever lingered in the air and this proved a good idea as his head gradually cleared.

Toothless alighted on a jut of rock from the cliff face, pawing anxiously at the ground. Hiccup dismounted, shaking pins and needles from his good foot.

Pushing his mask up, he stared at his dragon in confusion. The smell was a lot stronger here.

"Why'd you bring me here, bud?" Toothless growled and scrabbled at the rock face, mewling in irritation. Hiccup watched his strange behaviour, a sense of familiarity creeping in.

He had been here before.

Reaching for Toothless, Hiccup attempted to soothe him, scratching behind the dragon's ears. Toothless paused, giving a low, humming growl of contentment.

Two years ago, his mother's armada of dragons had bought him and Toothless here. He was surprised that he remembered the way in, but concerned as to why the Night Fury didn't want to venture further.

Pins and needles gone, Hiccup sat back in the saddle. "Come on, bud." He dropped his mask, muffling his voice. Toothless shook his head, groaning in complaint. Hiccup ushered him forward and Toothless reluctantly obliged.

They flew slower this time, the Night Fury's reluctance evident. He kept trying to turn around, but Hiccup was curious as to what that ever increasing smell was.

And he could hear the various, muted calls of various dragons- Deadly Nadders, Monstrous Nightmares, Gronkles… far more than he could list at that time.

He couldn't see any other dragons though, their cries echoing through the dank, gloomy caverns.

They had to stop flying and crawl through a tunnel at some point, reaching the Dragon Sanctuary within minutes.

But it was nothing like Hiccup remembered.

Gone the lush greens of spiralling foliage and the warm, sunny glow. The ice of the Bewilderbeast didn't seem so beautiful anymore, reflecting the harsh blue light of what had to be the biggest fire Hiccup had ever seen.

It burned where the Alpha dragon had once rested, emitting sparks and a noxious blue-grey smoke- the source of the strange smell.

Armour-clad figures flickered around the base of the fire, throwing something every few minutes onto the flames. Hiccup couldn't see what they were feeding into the flames from here, but he was more worried about the hundreds and thousands of dragons nestling in every dark nook and cranny.

Toothless whined pitifully, his eyes darting back and forth nervously. His breathing sounded funny to Hiccup, as though he too were trying not to breathe in the rancid stench.

A Zippleback crashed to the ground metres from where they hid, shaking its two heads in confusion and stumbling to its feet. It was clearly disorientated; so much so, that it struggled to fly or do anything either than lie there in a dazed heap.

Cautiously, Hiccup crept forward. Toothless protested, scrambling after him and pulling on Hiccup's arm, but the young adult paid him no mind.

The Zippleback didn't seem to notice either of them, green gas billowing from the left head. The other head was somewhere between being asleep and wakefulness.

It was Barf and Belch.

Kneeling, Hiccup patted the dozing head. "Belch." He called softly. The dragon roused, but did not look at him. "Barf?"

Whatever that smoke was, whatever they were burning- it wasn't good for the dragons.

Toothless snarled, pulling low to the ground and unfurling his wings; ready to attack. Hiccup moved back to him, his Night Fury curling in front of him for the second time that day.

Then he heard them.

The voices.

"If they're so incapacitated, how are we going to use them against Berk?"

"You'll see." A gruff, but quiet voice replied. Hiccup knew that voice. Toothless did too, falling silent but the ever more ready to pounce.

It was Drago.

"They're useless though and if we stop burning the dragon nip, they'll go straight back to Berk."

"No they won't." Drago came into sight then, on a ledge not far to their left. He sounded so sure of himself and his body language portrayed this very ideal. His metallic arm gleamed in the firelight, sending out various spots of lights that none of the dragons moved to catch. Toothless pawed at one curiously, but the other dragons seemed to not register them.

Squinting, Hiccup could make out that Drago had a new cape.

With horror, Hiccup realised what the cape was made of.

He rushed Toothless out then, trying and failing to coax Barf and Belch to come with them. Toothless was more than happy to leave.


Astrid rushed out upon hearing the Night Fury's call. Hiccup and Toothless had been gone nearly four hours and it was not easy keeping Stoic from going out after them.

Toothless landed heavily, jolting Hiccup from the saddle. He landed on his shoulder, but barely seemed to register this, pushing himself to his mismatched feet. He looked shaken and pale, Toothless baffled and dozy.

"What happened? Did you find the other dragons?" Villagers were starting to wander over now, their own questions rising. Hiccup didn't answer, insisting that they went inside to talk about this.

"Hiccup!" Stoic bellowed, lumbering forward. Valka was right on his heels, looking every bit the worried mother. "Where have you been?!" The young chief just waved his parents, Astrid and Toothless back into their house. Stoic dismissed the townspeople until 'further notice', but let the ever trustworthy Gobber in.

"I don't like the look on his face," Gobber acknowledged, casting a wary eye over Hiccup. "Makes me think I need a spare change of undies."

"Not now, Gobber." Stoic sighed, rubbing at his eyes tiresomely with one hand.

Astrid set a goblet of water in front of Hiccup while Valka dropped a basket of Atlantic Cod before Toothless. The dragon pawed at the basket absent-mindedly, inspecting the fish before slowly eating.

Hiccup took a drink of water, his hands shaking, before haltingly launching into an explanation. Valka was instantly enraged upon hearing that her old Dragon Sanctuary was now a Dragon Prison, but she stayed quiet.

Stoic didn't have the same decency, hitting the roof upon hearing that Drago was back.

"But, Dad…" Hiccup sat up straighter in his seat, but it seemed to take most of his energy. "You should have seen him… his… his cape… it was… it was…" He turned from sickly white to a deathly grey. "It was… Night Fury skin…"