A/N-Back for the weekend, so let's get the ball rolling with the new chapter.

As a reminder though, this is a multi-book series and there will continue to be regular updates, so don't worry about that. I have recently finished typing out all of Book 3, so the planned updates will continue at least through that and probably a good portion of Book 4 before typing and posting catch up to each other. However, I am also on the cusp of finishing the first draft of Book 5, so that may take some precedence as I wish to begin the draft of the final book before the year is out.

Chapter 7

Back in the Village…

CLANKCLANKCLANKCLANK!

Ingavar turned to see the lock mechanism on the door releasing. "What was that?!" Bitwolf asked. "The gate's open!" Ingavar replied, shooting a glare a Wolfblood, who held up his hands. "I swear I locked it!" he exclaimed. Ingavar shook his head in annoyance and marched toward the door to make sure someone did the job properly No matter how small or well-tied-up the prisoner was, he wasn't going to be taking any chances. The boy had already proven he was both dangerous and disruptive, Ingavar was not going to just let him walk back out.

The only problem was, he never made it to the door.

KABOOOMMMM!

The cell doors blasted open, forcing Ingavar and Wolfblood back again to the center of the ring and filling the open air with thick smoke as the flames died back. Ingavar grabbed his axe and looked again with suspicion at Wolfblood. "Wolfblood, are ye sure there wasn't a dragon in there before we threw the boy in?" The man shook his head in response. "No sir, it was empty!" Ingavar glanced back at the smoke cloud, and saw movement within. He gestured to the figure that was emerging. "Then what, pray tell, is that?!" he spat.

The figure was still hidden partially by the smoke, but at this point, it no longer looked draconic, save for the fact that it looked black. As the smoke dissipated and the figure continued to move forward toward them, the colors faded out until, standing before the Vikings was the boy, with an unreadable look on his face. Perplexed, Ingavar shook his head and stared for a moment. "What on earth are you?" he asked out of shock and anger.

Hawken leveled a glare directly at Ingavar and shrugged, his appearance starting to glisten as if he were doused with water. "I am someone who knows far more about this place than any of you could ever hope to know," he spoke. "I am someone who has placed himself in charge of helping keep the peace on this island, which you seem to continuously threaten. I am that which cannot be contained, and I can be the essence of wild dreams and miracles…."

Here, the teen paused for a minute, and smiled mysteriously. "….or I can be something from the very depths of your worst nightmares. Really, it's your choice which way I go."

What happened next, Ingavar would certainly never forget. The boy ignited, every inch of his body-hair, skin, and clothes-burst into flames, heating up the air around him and causing Ingavar and Wolfblood to step back. The flames poured outward then into the air, like a burning vapor, swirling menacingly around the boy. Ingavar gathered his wits and backed up to the gate, the other two following his example. They watched as the vaporous flames filled the arena, seeming to completely engulf the teen, and none of them saw the spike of flames suddenly rise above the top of the ring and dissipate.

It took nearly 5 minutes before the last of the burning mist dissipated, allowing Ingvar to send Bitwolf and his father in to check the ring and the cells. One by one, they searched the cages, and one by one they found them empty. "There's nothing here, sir," Wolfblood reported. He's just… disappeared." Ingavar gave a huff and shook his head. "Nae, no one can just disappear like that. Do ye think that he just committed suicide, te be removed from punishment?"

That didn't sound right either, though. "But why would he do that?" Wolfblood asked. "He would have been released in a couple of days." Bitwolf coughed from by the wall of the arena. "That wouldn't explain those strange flames," he spoke up. "A burning person wouldn't cause that." Wolfblood nodded. "No, but I think there may be one thing that could burn like that." He walked over to Ingavar. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you, but I never thought it was the right time," he said.

Ingavar gave another glare to Wolfblood. "Then ye'd better tell me quickly or you'll get the same treatment as I had planned for that boy for withholding valuable information from your superior!" he snapped. Wolfblood straightened in response. "Well, I didn't tell you because, uh, I didn't really believe the story I was told until now." He gestured toward Bitwolf. "My son told me yesterday that it was that boy who scared off the Shadow Lord, not the weapon Hiccup built."

Ingavar raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Hiccup had the weapon with him today, and it seemed te work just fine on that Nadder we ran into. How would a simple sword-swinging boy be able te scare off a dragon like the Shadow Lord?" Wolfblood shrugged toward the center of the ring. "Well, you saw what he was capable of there. He had some sort of ability to manipulate fire, thanks to the secret my son discovered: Hawken could turn into a dragon."

There was a moment of silence, then Ingavar burst out laughing. "Such sorcery does not exist! There's no way he could do that!" he guffawed. Bitwolf stepped away from the wall of the arena and moved toward the chief. "I watched him do it," he said. "No more than a Timberjack, but from what I saw he could become one. We never burned the dragons we killed, we don't know if that's what would happen to them." Ingavar nodded then looked at the Viking boy. "Well, even if yer story is true, it does nae matter now. No Timberjack I've ever seen would be small enough to disappear unnoticed, and if that is how dragons burn," he gestured to the empty arena, and the intact bars above them, "then it would appear that he's not around anymore te worry about."

Ingavar started walking back toward the gate. "In any case, we have much work te do. This village is practically falling apart, and we need to straighten it out before we leave anywhere." As he headed out, followed by the Wolf-pair, he continued. "This village certainly needs a turnaround, and Stoick has grown weak already. The villagers followed someone who was nae even a Viking, let alone a proper chief. We need te change that."

Hiccup, Astrid, and Sigrid hurried home, followed in the shadows of the trees by Toothless. It was already getting dark, so the Night Fury was hard to see, but that didn't make Hiccup feel any better. "Y'know," he began, glancing back at the coal-colored reptile following them, "I really hope Hawken knows what he's doing, because having Toothless back around the village with the visitors is making me really nervous." Astrid chuckled slightly. "Oh, don't get yourself worked up. Toothless knows how to keep himself hidden." She reassured. "Heck, until you managed to take him down those years ago, no one had even seen one before." Hiccup sighed. "Yeah, thanks for reminding me about that," he drawled. "But, still, he cares more about saving me than watching out for his own skin, and if you remember, that's what gets him in trouble sometimes." He glanced at Astrid. "Remember those first few months after we ended the war? When we got the visit from the Hysterics, about the trade agreements and the new treaty?" Astrid laughed. "Hard not to," she replied. "Kind of makes me wonder if that guy still has spit in his vest."

They both cracked up at the memory. Sigrid looked at them, then smiled and shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder about you two," she muttered mischievously, making the two teens blush slightly in response.

The mood immediately darkened the second they reached the outskirts of the village. Astrid glanced around down the streets. "Where is everyone?" she asked worriedly. The streets were completely bare, save the occasional rat running around in the shadows. The only lights came from within a few houses, very little sound could be heard. "This is making me nervous," Hiccup said quietly. "Come on, we need to find my dad."

The trio raced through the streets, reaching the village square in only a couple of minutes, and ran up the steps to the chief's house. Hiccup went in first, pushing the heavy door open and exclaiming, "Dad! Where are….?"

The words died immediately on his tongue as he took in the view awaiting them in the house. Ingavar, Wolfblood, and Bitwolf were all standing around the table, and Stoick was sitting at the far end, looking very angry and completely worn out at the same time. They all turned to the door as the newcomers came in.

"It's about time ye showed up," Ingavar growled. Hiccup ignored him and looked to his father. "What's going on?" he asked urgently. "The streets are completely empty and it's only just past nightfall!" Stoick nodded tiredly, the gestured his head angrily at Ingavar. "Ask him! He's the one responsible." Hiccup turned to face the foreign chief.

"This village has been falling into disarray," Ingavar replied, ignoring Stoick's tone. "Everyone has been put under house arrest for the night and until further notice, until I set things straight." Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "And what do you mean by 'set things straight'?" he practically yelled. "The village is more prosperous now than it ever has been!" Ingavar nodded. "Oh, I'm not changin' the trade or anyone's work ethic," he replied. "The problem here is the leadership in Berk." He turned and looked at Stoick. "Yer father has let the control of his villagers slip from his hands, nearly every aspect of it, and until he can demonstrate proper skills, instead of letting them fall to people who don't know how or shouldn't be holding the power, I will be taking over as chief of the village."

Astrid exploded next. "Gee, have you ever heard of delegation?!" she snapped. "You can't just waltz in and take over everything! Stoick has been keeping this tribe going for over 20 years, and we've never had a weak moment, never lost a fight, and you think you can just walk in and say that he's been doing a bad job because he's allowed someone else who is perfectly qualified for the job to help deal with the protection of the island?! And you think he needs a 'reeducation' because we don't work exactly how you do?"

Ingavar waited patiently until Astrid finished with her rant, then spoke up. "I have been leading my tribe fer over 40 years, have fought against hundreds of kinds of dragons, beasts, and people, personally seen te the teaching of each and every one of my council members and warriors, and I have found during my short stay here that Stoick seems te have less control of nearly every aspect of this village than that boy did, not just the protection of this land." He walked up to Astrid and grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look straight at him. "Ye should remember too, miss, that I am held in much higher regard and power than your chief, and by our laws have every right te remove him from power, even temporarily, if I see fit. As well it is that I am doing so, since even his own son followed that boy when a high chief strictly forbade all of you to leave." He turned and leveled his glare at Hiccup.

Sigrid, who up until then had stood passively off to the side watching from the door, cleared her throat and stepped forward into the room. "If I may, Chief Ingavar, are you implying that our ranking in power is based in part on how highly regarded we are?" she asked. Ingavar nodded in reply. "That is an aspect of it, yes. Those who show the most bravery and courage to defend their tribes, those who have proven the most their worth in battle are rendered the highest positions." Sigrid nodded. "Then forgive me for saying this," she continued, "and I could still be wrong, but if that is part of how levels of power work for us, then that teen Hawken may very well have more power over the tribes at this point than even you."

Ingavar was silent for a minute, his face bearing no emotion, before bursting out in laughter. "Ha! He hasn't even lived for half as long as I have led my tribe!" he guffawed. "How could he possibly be ranked higher than even the chief of that pathetic Clubswinger tribe?!" He backed up and sat down in a nearby chair, and returned to being serious. "But it doesn't really matter," he said lowly. "Unless he can magically vaporize at will, I watched him burn himself into nonexistence just a few hours ago as I was preparing for his punishment."

Hiccup, Astrid, and Stoick stole quick glances at each other. They all knew what had really transpired, especially the former two as they had seen him return home, but the three shared a silent agreement: let Ingavar think the boy was dead, as the less he knew, the better, for now.

"Now, past that, we shall return to the true matter at hand. Until you have been properly re-trained, Stoick, I will be assuming the position of chief in this village." He turned to Sigrid. "Return te yer home. I need te have a quick talk with these two," he gestured to Hiccup and Astrid. Sigrid glanced at her daughter, who nodded, then she turned and left, closing the door behind her.

Ingavar turned to the two teens, a look of anger and disappointment on his face. "If there is one thing that does not happen in our society, it is disobeying the order of a high chief," he scolded. "After I distinctly told ye not to leave, ye followed that boy te do who-knows-what. There was a dragon very nearby, which means ye could have all very well ended up hurt or worse, and where there's one, there are often many more!"

Stoick fought to keep down a laugh at this. If only Ingavar knew: there were many more than one, and not one of them a danger! Ingavar looked at Astrid. "I've heard that you're especially renowned in the village fer your fightin' abilities, especially fer your age group, but there are more dangers than just dragons in the forest." Astrid snorted. "Yeah, I know. I've run into them before. Didn't give me that much of an issue." Ingavar gave her a deadpan look. "There's always a first time, lass." He then turned to Hiccup. "And you are supposed te be the next chief!" he said, voice rising. "A chief is supposed te lead, not blindly follow, and he is also supposed te listen as much as he leads! Yer supposed te set a good example with yer behavior, not be the bad one!"

Here Ingavar paused in his rant and thought for a moment. "In fact, ye'll be getting a new training along with yer father. And while we're at it," he looked Hiccup up and down with disappointment, "we'll also work on getting' some muscle on those bones of yers." Hiccup groaned in reply. "Look, I've already tried that," he quipped, "and why does everyone think I need to bulk up anyway?"

"Because you're a twig," Bitwolf snarked from behind Ingavar. "Shut up, Wolf," Astrid growled, and Bitwolf threw her a condescending smirk. The look she returned, however, wiped it off.

"Astrid," Ingavar said. She turned to face him again. "You will go straight to yer house, and ye will be escorted by Bitwolf te make sure ye don't try anything." She locked eyes with Hiccup for a minute, an unvoiced groan transmitted between the two of them. "When ye get there," Ingavar continued, "ye will stay there until Wolfblood comes te retrieve you fer training tomorrow. If ye disobey, ye'll be locked in a cell fer punishment." Ingavar then looked at Hiccup. "And you will go to yer room now, and the same rules apply!"

Stoick began to voice his disagreement of someone else telling his son what to do in his own house, but Ingavar silenced him. "I will also have you restrained if ye go against my orders as well, Stoick," he snapped.

Hiccup quietly disappeared up the stairs, and Astrid ducked out the door, followed as ordered by Bitwolf. Once she had crossed the commons, however, she stopped, grabbed her axe, and whirled on the other teen.

"Watch what you say about Hiccup," she hissed lowly. "I'm dangerous enough alone, but if I were you I also wouldn't forget about who Hiccup's other best friends are." Bitwolf shrugged. "Well, one of them was," he drawled nonchalantly. Astrid stood up taller. "Excuse me?" she asked, forgetting for a moment about the act she needed to play. "Oh, come on, Astrid, you heard what Ingavar said," Bitwolf retorted. "Hawken vaporized himself. Other than the Shadow Lord, no dragon we know can just disappear on a whim, and we've never seen flames like that before. I mean, even if he had other tricks up his sleeve, even a Terrible Terror could have been spotted flying away. He's gone."

Astrid tried to paint a look of pained denial on her face, and she hoped it was convincing enough. It was dark out, which helped. "I-I don't believe that happened," she said, her voice cracking artificially. "Ingavar is just trying to break us!" Bitwolf bought it. "Suit yourself," he said, "but when that nerd doesn't show up again, don't start crying then." "I'm not going to cry."

"You know it's true," Bitwolf continued, "but that's not important right now. Back to some matters at hand," he said, grinning mischievously, and glanced back at Hiccup's house. "Why exactly do you like that wimp of an heir anyway? I mean really, why are you dating that shrimp?" He looked longingly and dangerously at Astrid. "Come on, teach me to ride a dragon," he continued, advancing toward her, "and I could be five times as good as him easy. Control the dragon, and you control the power, am I right? That's what you're looking for: Hiccup rides the Night Fury, you like the power he has doing that."

Bitwolf stepped forward, now only inches from Astrid, who already looked like she was going to explode. "Why not dump the shrimp and go for someone who actually can look out for you?" he asked, smirking again. "All it would take could be something as simple as a kiss." He leaned in to touch her lips.

Instead of a kiss, though, what he got in response was a big, wet loogie. "I don't need looking after," Astrid spat, "and if I did, he could do so ten times better than you! And by the way, that-!" Astrid swung and punched him in the gut, sending him gasping to the ground, "-was for insulting Hiccup! And this-!" this time she swung the broad side of her axe into his legs, "-is for even thinking about daring to try and kiss me!" She gave another punch for good measure, and turned to run for her house. However, a sudden swipe of the flat of another axe by Bitwolf brought her to the dirt as well. "You'll pay for that, you wench!" he practically screamed, and lunged for her.

Astrid rolled out of the way, and tried to leap to her feet, but Bitwolf rammed into her and knocked her flat on her back. When she looked up, she saw him, rage burning in his eyes, reach behind his back and grab a length of chain and raise it above his head. "I hope this teaches you a lesson about hitting your betters," he hissed, and swung the chain at her face.

How unfortunate for Bitwolf, that someone else had seen the whole thing.

TTSSSCCHHHEEEWWWWW! BOOMMMM!

A ball of fire rocketed out from the shadows at the edge of the commons, nailing the makeshift whip at its center and melting it to pieces while simultaneously creating a shock wave that threw Bitwolf backward a good five feet.

"What the-!" he began, coughing the dust away, and then looked up in shock. Toothless dropped down next to Astrid, baring his teeth at Bitwolf, then jerked his head from Astrid to the saddle. She got the message and climbed up, but not before Ingavar and Wolfblood, who had heard the commotion, came charging out of the chief's house.

"Go, go go!" Astrid yelled, and Toothless took off, leaping into the night and speeding to her house. Ingavar raced in that direction for a moment, raising his axe. "Astrid! Ye better get back here and explain yerself!" he yelled.

"No need," Bitwolf growled, spitting blood from a cracked lip. "There's something else you should know about Berk." Ingavar raised an eyebrow. "And what is this other secret yer hidin' from me?" he asked lowly. Bitwolf glanced at his father, who nodded, and smiled. "Oh, nothing much. It's just that they've befriended the dragons."

That was all that was needed to tip the high chief over the edge. "WHAT?!" He whirled around and marched back into Stoick's house, grabbing the "former" chief by the cloak and hoisting him up. "Ye've actually befriended the devils?!" he exclaimed. "Have ye truly gone completely mad?!" Stoick' eyes widened in surprise for a moment, then he caught the look Bitwolf had and they changed to a look of understanding and irritation.

"They're not devils," he muttered, "though once upon a time I said so myself many times over." He looked straight at Ingavar. "We've all been wrong, all this time," he said almost inaudibly, it was at such a dangerously low tone. "When we discov-" Ingavar cut him off. "What have they done to ye?" he asked. "Dragons steal our food, they destroy homes, ships, and other buildings, they terrorize and kill our people, and yet ye act like they should be yer best friends?"

Stoick yanked himself out of Ingavar's grip and glared at him, standing tall. "They only attack if they're not in their right mind, if they are under something else's control or if something is wrong with them," he explained. "My own son proved that to me when he took down-" "Your son?!" Ingavar interrupted again. Stoick's mouth slammed shut, realizing he had said something that could potentially be a big mistake. Sure enough, Ingavar turned for the stairs about ready to storm up, but he had no reason to. Hiccup was already halfway down, arms folded.

"Go ahead, tell them," he said, his own tone tinged with the promise of danger. "It's really about time they knew." Stoick looked at his son, shocked. "Ye can't be serious!" he exclaimed. "Look how he's reacted already!" he gestured to Ingavar, who was well beyond boiling point. Hiccup nodded anyway. "It's not like keeping secrets will help at this point."

Stoick sighed. "Alright," he relented, and looked to the other chief. "It was Hiccup who first befriended the dragons. He shot down one, and did something none of the rest of us would ever have done: he let it go. It was Hiccup who turned the village, even me of all people, from our hard-set ideas about how dragons were supposed to be." He waited to see if Ingavar would say anything before he continued. "Up until that point, we all thought dragons were monsters, evil creatures who were just here to destroy everything. But no, that's not how it was. You know the story of the Red Death, how Hiccup took it down. That creature controlled them, forcing the dragons te bring food to the Red Death's nest, and it didn't care if we were in the way, or even became the offerings ourselves." He gestured to Hiccup. "Hiccup and his dragon brought down the Red Death, releasing at least the dragons around here from that spell, from the creature's control."

Stoick stood up straight again, facing down Ingavar. "Had ye come but a couple years ago, Ingavar' he continued, "ye would've found me also set on killing every single one of those reptiles that dared show its face to me. And Hiccup had been shunned basically from the tribe." He gestured out the door. "What ye see out there, the unburnt buildings, the prosperous trade, everything, a great deal of it came from our ending the fight and allying with the dragons. They've changed everything around her, our entire way of life. They're not evil, and if for once you'd release your own hard-headed ways of thinking, I'm sure that you'd be able-"

"ENOUGH!" Ingavar yelled finally. Stoick stepped back slightly, surprised. "The beasts seem te have more control over you all than the Death over them, if I could believe even a word you say," he growled. "I will not be led to believe such falsehoods and outright lies! I can see right through all of this, they're making you protect them!" He whirled toward Hiccup. "Where are all of your dragons?" he growled. "I know the Night Fury the girl has I won't have the time to track, but the rest-" "The Night Fury is my friend," Hiccup shot back, "and if you're planning on having me take you to go and kill the rest of our dragons, then you'd be better off just starting by killing me."

Ingavar grabbed his axe, and then grabbed Hiccup by the arm. "Ye will tell me or I may grant that wish," he bellowed. "Or at the very least ye'll be wearing a metal foot fer the rest of yer life fer siding with those devils and hiding them from a high chief!"

Stoick rushed forward immediately, trying to wrench the axe or his son from Ingavar's hands, but the other man held firm and threw him off. Stoick knew at that point fighting wasn't going to work, and so, broken, resorted to the last thing he could think of.

"Put my son down," he spat, "and I'll take you to them." Hiccup shot his father an agonized stare, but that melted away when he caught the look in Stoick's eyes. He would buy them some time, maybe enough to get help, but that would only be enough if Hiccup could get away soon.

Ingavar released Hiccup slowly, and looked to Bitwolf, who grinned. "Tie him up in his room," Ingavar commanded, much to their chagrin, and looked at Hiccup. "Just to make sure ye don't go trying anything," he elaborated. Bitwolf grabbed Hiccup and his chain, and headed upstairs. When he returned, Ingavar faced Stoick, grabbed him, and left the house. Wolfblood, however, stayed behind for a moment, going up the stairs to find Hiccup.

"What do you want?" the teen snapped as Wolfblood appeared. "To know your secret," Wolfblood replied, lacing his voice with faux curiosity and understanding. "We're not all like Ingavar, you know." Hiccup glanced away. "Yeah, but Hawken already warned me about you. You and your son aren't trustworthy for such things." "We were working on a precept that you just proved wrong," Wolfblood said. "I have a chance to stop Ingavar, but only if I can get a dragon to trust me."

Hiccup sighed, and decided it couldn't really get any worse. "They just need to know they can trust you," he said. "They often respond to a food gift, or gentle interaction. Let them make the move to let you get close, or ride." Wolfblood nodded, then looked sympathetically at the boy. "I can't untie you, or Ingavar will find out and have my head, but I will be back later."

With that, he turned and quietly disappeared down the stairs. Hiccup sat back on his bed, where he was tied, not knowing he had in fact been duped, and he had given Wolfblood what he was looking for in order to forge a dangerous alliance.

Meanwhile, Toothless had gotten Astrid to her house unseen. As she got off, she turned and looked Toothless in the eye. "Bring Hawken here immediately tomorrow morning," she said, "and help him gather the gang together. We're gonna have a lot of trouble to deal with." Toothless nodded and disappeared into the night sky, just before guards from Ingavar's tribe came around the corner to investigate. Astrid, too, ducked inside before she could be caught or reprimanded, not realizing things were in fact far, far worse than she thought.

Late that night, a single small boat slipped from the docks of Berk's harbor, headed for the cave-riddled cliffs on the eastern edge of the island. Wolfblood was travelling there to find the Shadow Lord dragon, in hopes of making an alliance that would give him every edge he thought he'd need to win. As the rest of the Vikings would find out the next day too, everything went exactly as he planned.

A/N-Now things will get really interesting! And I'd like to see how many of you caught the terrible coincidences mentioned in this chapter. Ingavar of course has no idea of the real outcome of Hiccup's first big battle, but that just makes it more fitting...

As always, please let me know what you think so far! Writing thrives on feedback, even if already written...