I own nothing

All rights reserved

Chapter 30

The Morning

In the Jorgenson household breakfast was silent and somber. Snotlout especially was in a glum mood, which perplexed Spitelout. The last time he had seen his son in such low spirits was when his mother had died—a perfectly understandable time to be depressed. But Spitelout could not understand why his son was acting so dejected now.

"I'm worried about Hookfang," Snotlout said when his father finally asked him what had gotten into him.

"Why are ya be worryin' 'bout that beast?"

"He hasn't come back! He's still missing! Why shouldn't I worry about him?"

Spitelout smiled archly, "Son, we're alone. Ya don't need ta keep the act up fer me. And frankly, after what jest 'appened, ah would say maybe ya need ta rethink yer tactics. Ah doubt people will be too fond of dragons after this, and as fer bein' the second in command ta 'Iccup, 'e's not gonna make Chief if 'e doesn't git 'imself down here soon!" Spitelout laughed, "Ya know, son, if Astrid backs out now, ya could still become Chief!"

"Is that all you think about, Dad? And by the way, I thought you said to always assume we're being watched."

"True, but ya don't 'ave ta pretend fer me. Ah know yer only sidin' with them dragons as an act, ya don't need ta worry 'bout the beast bein' missin'."

Snotlout swallowed. "Actually, Dad, the fact is, I'm not acting."

"Say what?"

"I'm not pretending to worry about Hookfang, I am worried about him!"

Spitelout's expression was turning dangerous. "Did that demon lover git ta you too, Snotlout?"

"Not exactly—you could say I went to him," Snotlout sighed, "Dad, I did think at first of just pretending to take his side, but…well, I liked riding a dragon and I liked Hookfang. He was a lot of fun to be with. And as for Hiccup, I know we were big rivals for a very long time, but on Berserk he put it all behind him to help us get out, and I felt I should do the same. As for being Chief, come on Dad, open your eyes, why would Stoick make me Chief now? Heck, he probably never intended to make me Chief! Who here on Berk has ever wanted me to be Chief besides you and Dogsbreath and Hognose and Mildew—a nice group of supporters! Didn't you see everyone rejoicing when Stoick proclaimed Astrid as the new Heir? Dad, I'm tired of playing this part, I just wanna ride my dragon and go on cool adventures, not be the focus of everyone's scorn and disgust!" He looked warily at his father, who was trembling with anger.

"So all o' it was a lie?"

"No, not all of it…not exactly, anyway,"

"Git out," Spitelout growled,

Snotlout exploded. "So that's how this is, is it? Welcome me as long as I lie to you and throw me out once I tell the truth? Sheesh, maybe Hiccup had the right idea to leave home!"

"GIT OUT!" Spitelout roared,

"Have you ever actually cared about me, Dad?" Snotlout shouted back.

"I SAID GIT—" They both froze when they realized someone was pounding frantically on the door. Spitelout stormed over to it, "WOT?"

Fishlegs suddenly felt incredibly small and timid as he looked at the enraged Jorgenson but he ignored his personal feelings. "Sir, you might be interested to know that Drago's ship has arrived and Stoick wants everyone to man their positions at once!"

The Czernobog turned out to be not quite as seaworthy as it appeared. The engines, or whatever fueled them at any rate, were extremely temperamental and stopped or started at random. The ship listed and heaved on occasion too. Hiccup at one point commented loudly "that boat of Noah's would have been easier to steer!" Either the Czernobog had not been meant for voyages in the opened sea, or perhaps it had been rushed into service before all its defects were fixed. As a means of scaring the opponent and carrying a large body of troops, however, the Czernobog was without peer.

Hiccup had no idea of where they were or what time it was. At one point Drago had retired, presumably to get some sleep, and Alvin had filled the position of watching him the entire time. Hiccup had nothing to say to Alvin so they passed the time in silence, and they continued passing the time in silence when Drago returned. Though he did his utmost not to show it, he was worried sick about what was going to happen now.

Finally, after what felt like days to him, Marva came down and said that Adoncia had returned and she had not come alone.

"Finally!" Drago scowled, "she'd better have good news!"

"Oh she does, sir!" Marva said quickly, "Very good news. I'd say now we don't need the runt alive anymore!"

"Oh we don't, do we?"

"No sir, so why don't I just—"

A new messenger came down, informing Drago that the ship was about to arrive at its destination.

"It's time then," Drago said to himself. "Marva, you watch the runt. He'll make a good hostage if things go badly, so I want him alive—for now. That door is not to be opened for any reason, understood?"

"Yes sir,"

Drago marched away confidently while Marva started pacing outside Hiccup's cell impatiently.

"I hope you realize that thanks to you, Useless, I'm going to be missing out on the great battle!"

"My sincerest apologies,"

"You'll be ever sorrier when I put a sword through you!"

"Do it now. I dare you. Or is committing murder too much for someone of your strength and temperament?" he taunted. If she tried to kill him she would have to open the door. He knew he was no match for Drago or Alvin in his one-legged state, but Marva was another matter.

"No. Drago gave clear orders."

Nuts. He opted to change the subject. "So, we've reached Berk?"

"Yes. And you're as close to it as you're ever going to get!" she laughed.

"Marva, don't you realize that in this 'great' battle your father is on the opposite side?" Hiccup shouted.

"That's his problem. He made his choice. He'll have to pay the price for it. You turned against your own father, you know. You chose the opposite side!"

"I never fought against him like this!"

"No, and that's because you're pathetic and weak! You had all kinds of power to do whatever you wanted, but you were too scared to use it!"

"Unchecked power is poison! You know what, why am I even bothering? You became a hopeless case ages ago."

"You've been a hopeless case all your life, though there's not much left of that now! How do you plan to get out of there, huh! Not even Changewing acid could eat through the hull of this ship! It's impregnable! A testament to Drago's invincibility, wouldn't you say?" She laughed.

"Oh I don't know," Hiccup said lazily. Maybe if he got her angry enough she would come inside.

Marva sneer at him. "You're just trying to save face and pretend you're not really in a helpless position. Ha! You've got no metal leg to hide stuff in this time! You're a prisoner in every sense of the word! Say—shall I tell you what Adoncia told me about the time you were her prisoner?"

"Marva—"

"Trapped in those dark cells helpless to escape the whip?"

"Marva, stop it!" He could feel his body starting to shake.

"Feeling the dried blood on your back split open again?"

"Stop it! STOP IT!"

The giant eel lunged at Toothless. Toothless waited until the last second and then rolled out of the way. The eel moved with him and grabbed him by the hind leg. Toothless, instead of trying to pull away, twisted around and flung his claws around the eel's neck.

They rolled around in the water. The eel tried to drag Toothless under but Toothless tightened his grip on its neck. The eel then tried to wrap its coils around the dragon but the dragon tightened his grip even further. The eel let go of Toothless's leg and tried to bite the dragon in the face, but Toothless readied a plasma blast and the creature then decided there was easier prey to hunt for. But Toothless would not let it go.

"Now you listen here! You are taking me to Berk—I'll tell you which direction to go. Cooperate and I'll let you go and never kill an eel again. But try any tricks with me and fish will be feeding on your headless carcass! Got it? Good! Now let's get going!"

He could not tell if the eel actually understood him, so if it ever turned the wrong way he tightened his grip on its neck. It was not long before the creature was speeding straight towards Berk with Toothless in tow.

"I'm coming, Hiccup! I'm coming!"

Stoick looked out to sea and saw the massive ship the Dragon Riders had described to him. Gort was standing beside him with a grim expression on his face at the sight.

"They weren't exaggerating," Stoick calmly remarked to him.

"I wonder if Hiccup and Marva on that thing?" Gort said, as if there was nothing else to worry about.

Stoick had been worried sick about his son, but he knew now was not the time for that. Now was the time for preparing for the attack to come and he hoped they were ready. He was. He had his best weapons at his belt, cleaned and sharpened.

Bertha came over to them. "My daughter has been using one of the spy glasses Hiccup designed for us." During the last council of war Hiccup had shown them some sketches, including one where a barrel was turned into a large spyglass. "She says there are a multitude of dragons on the decks of that ship."

"That was to be expected," Stoick said heavily, "I don't want to fight them, after all that Hiccup's said and done, but we will defend ourselves." He shook hands with Bertha and Gort. "Look after yourselves, and I'll see you at our victory celebration tonight. Now let's see to those catapults."

"Repeta, por favor." Adoncia said sharply. "No dragons?"

"Not for this battle," Drago said flatly. "They will stay on the ship."

"I object,"

"About what, Adoncia?"

"I'm taking my Razorwhip into combat. You owe it to me."

"And what if the dragon gets killed?"

"If you think I can't look after my own mount—"

"I am not risking the loss of the Beta!"

"There will be no risk! What chance has any Viking out there got against a dragon covered in metal? And Drago, if you refuse to let us go into battle, I will have the Beta send your dragon army away for good!"

"NO! You can fight yourself, if you're so desperate, but the dragon stays here!" Drago shouted. She was getting too annoying, he decided. He would get rid of her as soon as this fight was over. Let her have the runt as a reward, then kill them while they were making love. Or maybe she would die in battle.

He had several reasons for not wanting the dragons in this battle. The main thing was he wanted to conserve his army of dragons now that he had it. Yes, he could just have the dragons burn Berk to the ground, but he felt Berk would be expecting that. He guessed they had been preparing for dragon attacks, so he would give them a purely man to man battle. In fact, he hoped that this battle would wipe out his allies as well as enemies. Let every other army get destroyed in this fight and then he would leave a destroyed island with his unharmed army of dragons and pursue his goals unhindered by fools.

He stormed over to the helmsman and shouted "Is the ship in position yet?"

"Almost sir,"

"Excellent!" Drago turned to have a look for himself. The Czernobog was heading towards the island. It would only be a matter of minutes. "You understand your orders, yes?"

"Yes sir. Once everyone's off, we pull out and sail back to a safe distance until you signal to us."

"Good," the Czernobog was another thing he did not want to risk losing or falling into enemy hands.

Astrid could have told Stoick that his confidence was not mirrored among the troops. They were mostly edgy, anxious for the fight to begin. Above all, they were deeply impressed by the sight of that ship which had a huge flock of dragons on it.

"Think we can fight them off?"

"I don't know. I'm outta shape,"

"I'd rather be stealing something,"

Camicazi was standing beside Astrid and shook her head. "People are sometimes a flock of sheep, you know? Not one ounce of courage."

"Oh they're courageous all right," Astrid said loudly, "Once they get over the surprise they'll be ready for anything!" Her words either went unheard or had no effect, for the uneasy muttering continued.

"We won't last a day against that thing,"

"And who knows what's inside of it? Basilisks, giant trolls and spiders, maybe even the Kraken?"

"I wish Hookfang were here," Snotlout whimpered, "Better yet I wish we had another thousand Vikings,"

That was enough, Astrid decided. "Who said that?" She asked loudly enough to get everyone's attention. "Snotlout, did I hear you wishing we had more men?"

This should probably be left to Stoick, but he had enough to worry about. "Much as I might wish it too, let's face the facts! No more are coming. But I'm not saying this to demoralize us but to make us look the danger in the face and see it for what it truly is. And the pure truth is we will not be receiving more help now. Our futures and the futures of all our tribes depend upon us alone today."

She looked at her comrades in a way that made each one feel she was addressing them directly. "But is that a reason to despair? Is the responsibility too great for our shoulders? Our great forefathers have achieved miracles and feats that have become legendary, yet they were humans like us. Have we grown weaker over the years, or have we learned by their examples to make ourselves their equals and superiors, to make ourselves worthy of the efforts and sacrifices that they have made?"

She paused to let this sink in, and was relieved to see her comrades were shaking their heads vigorously. "I am just as nervous as anyone. I do not want to die and leave before my work here is finished, to leave my friends and family behind grieving while I journey to Valhalla. But I will not allow fear to rule me! That is what the enemy wants and I will be dead a hundred times over before I let my enemy rule over me! So to Drago and his men, who think to make me shake in my boots, I think I shall remove these boots and fling their mud and manure covered heels at their ugly mugs!" A loud laugh went up at this. "They want us to fear them because deep down they fear us! They laugh at us and scorn us but deep down they fear that we will defeat them as they would like to defeat us!"

She made her way to the top of a crate, so she would be easier to see. "When the anniversary of today comes again in the future, people will remember it as they remember their weddings and the births of their firstborns. Long after the rain washes away the blood from the sand, they will walk along those beaches with their grandchildren and say 'here is where I got these wounds. And there is where we drove them back into the sea.' Centuries from now, when our descendents mingle they will ask each other 'did your ancestors fight in that great battle?' and consider those who do not to be unworthy company! And Vikings across the Archipelago will hear about what has happened in the coming weeks and regret they had stayed at home, missing the greatest chance of their lives to sign their names onto this page of history! For if we win today, we make history! Winning today shows the world that Drago and his army, made up of the brute, the rapist, the bribed, the murderer, and the slave, is no match for tribes of friends and families, made up of the honorable, the brave, and the caring! You know Drago believes that willpower alone is all that is needed to triumph—and we are going to prove him right! We are going to show him that we, the outnumbered side, with our weapons marked with the Rune of Victory, have the stronger will to succeed and he is going to regret that he ever went up against the Hairy Hooligans, the Owl Guts, and the Bog Burglars!" The loudest cheer she ever knew rose from the crowd.

"Bring it on!"

"Let them come, we'd win if we had half the number we do now!"

"I'm with you, Astrid!"

"I'll fight alone if nobody else will!"

"I'll show you willpower, Drago What's-his-fist!"

"Drago Dud-Fist and his demented drove of dopes!" Snotlout shouted, attempting poetry once again, making everyone laugh once more.

"Nice speech," Olaf Hofferson commented as Astrid joined him.

"Was it a bit long? I thought it might have been too long."

"Just a little, but the ending was rousing." He chuckled. "And you're right: we're going to lick them today!" he said this loudly and more cheers rang out.

But laughs and improved morale did not change the fact that the Czernobog was approaching the island and getting closer.

Many, many leagues away from any of this, the dragon trapping boat helmed by the manly Eret Son of Eret pulled into port.

A tall balding man with an equally strong build approached him. "So you've come back, have you?"

"Yes we have," Eret replied, "my crew and I are willing to offer our services in exchange for standard pay and protection from Drago Bludvist,"

"You'll have to wait before my brother agrees on that last one,"

"Why?"

"You haven't heard?" the man asked incredulously,

"We've been at sea and making repairs for quite some time," Eret was lying about the repairs. The truth was they had gone on longer searching for more dragons without success.

"Word is he's about to fight the Dragon King. They might be fighting already. Until word of the outcome reaches us my brother won't do a thing that might displease Drago."

"Understandable, but my money is on the Dragon King."

"And I'll wager you'll lose it. Thanks to my brother, Drago now has the most powerful ship in existence. It can withstand any dragon or weapon known to us. We're even thinking of building some for ourselves," he grinned toothily at the idea.

Eret shrugged his shoulders. "Ryker, you can tell your brother from me my crew and I are only interested in staying alive. I don't really care who wins. I'm sure he'd consider that to be a form of good business,"

In his cell, Hiccup was still having a fit, much to Marva's delight. How long this had been going on for he had no idea. Time had no meaning there. All he could see in his mind were those days in that cell in Spain. Over and over again they came to him, making him tremble and scream as he remembered. And Marva was enjoying every minute of it.

"This almost makes missing the battle worth it!" she laughed, "Do you think Adoncia will bring you Astrid's headless body?"

Hiccup only heard the name. His memories shifted to the time in the cells in Berserk. He remembered one of the main reasons he had let himself get caught: he had hoped that if it did come to torture, that they would hurt him and not Astrid.

And now she was in danger on Berk! The woman he loved, along with his father and friends, and his dragons! His tribe, his allies, the people who he had gotten into this mess! They were all in danger, possibly dead, they needed his help, and here he was lying in a cell, letting himself be tormented by a bunch of bad memories and a disagreeable woman! His mind focused and a grim sense of determination came to him. But he kept rolling around on the floor and moaning.

Marva laughed at him again and began to make even more suggestions about the dead bodies Adoncia and Drago would bring back. Hiccup rolled himself over to the door. He grabbed the bars and pulled himself up onto his one foot while screaming "let me outta here! Let me outta here!"

On the other side of the door Marva laughed again and came closer, so that their faces were almost touching. "This is so pathetic it's hilarious! It's a wonder Drago's even bothering with you!" And she spat in his face to show her contempt for him.

He suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him—right into the bars of the cell door. He did it again, and again, and she fell onto the floor in a heavy daze.

"Ouch," Hiccup commented, "I'm not sorry."

He took off his belt and detached the buckle from the leather strap. "The first rule to escape," he said as if giving a lecture to unseen students, "is to always have two separate means of opening doors. In my case, a picklock hidden in the prosthetic that Drago took away from me—and two small vials of Naga-Raja acid concealed inside my belt buckle." He opened one of the vials and carefully poured its contents, a red noxious smelling liquid, on the lock of the door. "Never heard of Naga-Raja dragons, have you, Marva? Well, I'm not surprised. They're a Changewing relative that lives in India. Only two kinds of metal are known to withstand their acid and regular iron isn't one of them. One metal that is happens to be Gronkle Iron, which these vials are made of. " He pushed the door opened and crawled out. "Thanks for giving me a ride back to Berk. Sorry, Dogsbreath, but we drink what we brew. Goodbye."

The Czernobog had gotten as close as it possibly could to Berk without running aground. The Vikings could see a multitude of dragons clustered around the top deck and were relieved—and confused—that they remained where they were.

The front of the ship began to lower like a giant black drawbridge. And as it lowered the Hairy Hooligans, Owl Guts, and Bog Burglars could see the warriors inside waiting to come charging out.

Author's Note: I was honestly not expecting such an outpouring of emotion over Chapter 29, but I am glad it got the reactions it did. The reasons for why I did what I did are this: one, I wanted to show some of the worst aspects of war, and two, the good guys have to take losses in order for this to be realistic. I know it's horrible; that's why I wrote those scenes.

There are only three more chapters to go now. The next two will be posted on November 14th. I have yet to determine the final chapter's posting date.

A little trivia: first, the reason why Astrid wonders if her speech was too long is because originally it was too long! The first draft was nearly 2 pages long and went into a huge amount of detail on the runes that Vikings put on their weapons, as well as more examples of things already stated. I realized after finishing it that this would bore people, not inspire them.

Second, I mentioned earlier about the meaning behind the name Czernobog, but I did not mention how I came to pick that name in the first place. In the Disney movie Fantasia, in the "Night on Bald Mountain" segment, there is a huge black demon who commands the unholy spirits. That demon is sometimes referred to as the Devil himself, but officially its name is Chernobog. Fantasia happens to be my favorite movie.

Now, some people expressed confusion over the Alphas and Betas. I have explained this in previous chapters, but let me see if I can give the rundown here:

First, the most powerful Dragon of all is the Alpha. This dragon can command any dragon in existence if it chooses to. There is only ever one Alpha at a time, and the current one has not been seen or heard of for some 400 years. Even the dragons in the story have no idea where the Alpha is or what has become of it.

Below the Alpha are the Betas—the Red Death in the first movie was one of these and by defeating it Toothless took its place. He later lost it to Grimm, who then lost it to the Razorwhip. Like the Alpha, Betas have mind control powers, as well as authority over every dragon in their nest, but their range is limited and such powers only work on dragons in their own nest. When a new Beta takes over, all dragons the previous Beta had control over are now subject to the new Beta's control—provided they are within the range of its powers. For dragons that are not part of the nest, the Beta has no power over them until they make eye contact. So for example, if Cloudjumper came across the Razorwhip right now, as long as the two never made eye contact, the Razorwhip would have no control over him. The limits to these mind powers do not apply to the Alpha: the Alpha can control the mind of any dragon it wishes without ever making eye contact—but it has to want to do so.

The most common transfer of power occurs when a dragon challenges the current leader. This often happens when newcomers arrive to take over a nest. When this happens, all the Beta's or Alpha's powers of control are lost to it; it wields no more authority than any other dragon. At such times, all dragons previously under its control are free to do as they please, whether that is assist it, refuse assistance, or flee. These contests do not have to be to the death, but they often end that way. Such contests can also be rigged or thrown. For instance, Grimm took the Beta position from Toothless because Toothless allowed himself to be defeated. But this seldom happens.

The only other way to transfer power is when a Beta or Alpha dies by some means other than in battle with a challenger, such as when killed by disease, age, or humans. In the case of a Beta dying without a successor, most nests simply split apart, with dragons going their own ways and joining new nests under different Betas. In the case of the Alpha, the first Beta to claim the position becomes the new Alpha. None of these powers are genetic or can be inherited by offspring.

Now please keep in mind I made most of this up. The filmmakers of the HTTYD series have never explained the mind control powers very clearly, to my knowledge at any rate, so I had to invent these things to meet certain plot points.