To my reviewers, you are GREAT. Spending maybe less than a minute to write me a review is awesome and I appreciate it very much!
And oh yes, I'd guess some of you are wondering why I used modern names (Mary, Oliver, Ellen) and while using such an obscure name such as Tilgaurd. A very simple reason for this; what sounds more gentle? Mary, or Tilgaurd? I used the name Tilgaurd because I still wanted people to believe that these are still Viking people, but I also wanted to have characters with names that show their personalities. Subtle, as some people might describe.
Also: A meter is close to a yard. (For all you non-metric countries)
Chapter 12:
FFFF- I just realised something, I had to fix one word in the last chapter's ending… Stupid me and my fail proofreading.
Suddenly, a clearly definable click echoed throughout the room, snapping the Night Fury awake. The dragon traced the mechanical sound to be sourcing from the room's entrance in the motion of creaking open. On the floor beneath it, a tiny streak of light shined in through the crack.
There, a man appeared, bringing forth a loud snarl from the Night Fury's throat. Even though the dragon's mouth was muzzled, the resulting sound was still menacing enough to cause the man shift back in apprehension. This wasn't just any human, the dragon remembered, this was him. Toothless snarled at the sight of this particular human, his hatred growing with every second that passed by. In the air, the smell of sweat mixed with adrenaline saturated the surrounding atmosphere. The smell of fear. It was strongly centered around the human, and he was definitely not wrong to be afraid of this Night Fury. This was the human, the same human that robbed him of his saddle.
The man took a cautious step closer, but stopped in his tracks as the dragon's growl further intensified. Behind him, appeared four others humans, three adult ones and a significantly shorter one, a hatchling possibly? It wouldn't matter if they were all mere hatchlings. These humans are part of the village that confined Hiccup to these terrible conditions, not to mention deeming the himself for execution.
A few whispers emerged from the doorway that under normal circumstances, no human would be able to hear from that distance but Toothless, equipped with his finely developed auditory senses, was able to pick up even the quietest murmurs.
"I-I don't want to go in there, what if the dragon controls m' as well?"
"Don't be an idiot, te' dragon can only control a single person at a time."
Toothless immediately recognized this next voice as the human tribe's chief.
The man looked unsure whether to believe Tilguard's word or not. Giving in with irritation for the man's reluctances, the chief shoved the one standing in front forward, effectively freeing up the doorway for the other humans to pass.
The four humans quickly shuffled passed Toothless's cage, most of them attempting to ignore the Night Fury's vicious gaze. They were heading towards… Hiccup! At the realization of who these humans were going for, the Night Fury sprung off the cage floor and into an offensive stance, snarling and hissing at the humans with an intense demeanour. The dragon feared what their intentions were with his rider. The group of humans stopped in front of Hiccup's cage shortly before one stepped forward and reached into his pocket to pull out a brass key that held the same size as the keyhole on Hiccup's cage. With obvious attention to being quiet, he inserted the key and turned it before another mechanical clicking echoed throughout the room.
The agitated hissing and snarling of his dragon slowly brought the young Viking out of his slumber, groggily blinking as to what all the noise was about. With a shrug, he obliviously labelled the noise as nothing and turned to his side, shutting his eyes once again, wanting to get to sleep before the executio- his eyes snapped open, fully realizing the reason of the noise; they were taking Toothless! Hiccup franticly threw off the covers and sat up, slamming his forehead into the man that peered in.
"IE! Watch it you runt!" Tilguard barked, bringing his hand up to his nose in pain.
The Viking then ruthlessly jerked Hiccup to his feet and pulled him out of the cage with a final 'clang' as the cage door was forcefully slammed shut. Hiccup struggled to free himself from the much stockier Viking, but the man held him under a tight grip by the collar of his jacket. The boy could hear the Viking cursing under his breath, muttering something about this task being 'distasteful'.
"Let me go!" Hiccup cried in vain.
The man ignored Hiccup's pleas and pushed him forward into a walk towards the arena entrance. Hiccup no doubt heard the growls and snarls of his dragon and glanced over to the cage, which was rocking back and forth as the Night Fury stomped and struggled against the cage bars. There was nothing he could do… The familiar feeling of helplessness began to seep in.
Just a few inches from leaving the room, the man abruptly stopped, almost causing Hiccup to stumble forward from the unexpected motion. Curiously, Hiccup peered outside. To his shock, there were hundre- no, thousands of villagers standing from all sides on top of the arena wall. The noise was level was boisterous and it seemed as though everyone was actually excited! Are these people going to make Toothless's execution a spectacle on an event?
"Get the dragon." Tilgaurd ordered the other three men in the room, breaking Hiccup out of distressed trance.
"No! Don't touch him!" Hiccup screamed at the man. He panicked and elbowed his captor mercilessly in the stomach, leaving him doubled over in pain. Realizing that he was finally free from the Viking's grip, he immediately sprinted off towards his dragon, ignoring just how poorly planned this impulse actually was. His mind was in a tunnel, staring only at the end and oblivious to what was on the side. His dragon needed his help! And there was no way he was going to gi- The handle of an axe smacked the optimism right out of him as he fell over in pain.
The guard looked down at Hiccup and gave a small chuckle. "You alrig' there?" The Viking asked Tilgaurd.
"Aye, the damn wretch elbowed me!" The chief jumped onto his feet and bounded towards Hiccup with the new look of vengeance written blatantly on his face. Once again, he clutched Hiccup's arm and viciously yanked him to his feet. Hiccup staggered beside the man, unable to keep balanced. His vision was doubled and his perception seemed to be inside of a dazed fog. Hiccup could feel something wet run down the side of his nose, sweat maybe? The young Viking quizzically brought a hand up and wiped off some of the liquid off his upper eye, and was shocked to see that it wasn't sweat, but instead the dark red stain of blood that smeared across his hand.
Suddenly, something forcefully jabbed him in the small of his back, sending him stumbling flat onto the floor. Hiccup groaned in pain and unsteadily rolled to onto his back. He helplessly gawked up to see the guard stare back directly down at him, looking even more furious than his father during one of his mess-ups.
"Ge' up!" The man spitefully commanded.
Hiccup hazily scrambled to his feet, still unsteady by the blown he had taken to the forehead. The guard grabbed him by the collar and guided him towards the door. Hiccup took a final glance back and met his gaze with his Night Fury's, before being forcefully shoved out of the room.
Meanwhile, the other men had already positioned themselves in front of Toothless's cage, ready on hand with metal shackles, and a cage standing ready for transporting Toothless. The Night Fury on the other hand, had suddenly stopped all his rampageous actions and stood motionlessly, staring at the door as his rider was dragged away by Tilgaurd. Anger began to build up in the dragon, with the influence of vengeance becoming more and more prevalent.
"I guess te' devil has finall' understood its fate" One man obliviously noted, seeing the dragon's unexpectedly differing demeanour.
With a shrug of agreement, the man pulled out another key. And with a final turn, the click sounded as the door began to unlock.
"Ready now, as soon as I open it, get the shackle over his muzz-" The cage door unexpectedly swung open with incredible speed and smashed the Viking dead center, sending him slamming into the stone wall on the far side of the room. A final thud sounded as the man slid down onto the ground and flopped over in unconsciousness.
The two other men stared at each other in shock, utterly confused and unsure of what to do. One quickly reached down and picked up a sword, and raised it with an unsteady hand while the other realised he had nothing to defend himself with and scanned the room in apprehension for his life. The dragon was nowhere to be seen! The devil wasn't in the cage, nor was it- Suddenly, a flash of jet black scales smacked the two men directly in the head one consecutively after the other, sending them sliding across the floor.
Toothless huffed in triumph at the humans that laid unconscious on the ground. But then, a slight itch suddenly made itself apparent under the metal muzzle, resulting the dragon wiggling its snout. The Night Fury felt something different about how the muzzle rested on his head now, and shifted his snout again in curiosity; yes, there was definitely something different. Then he realised, the muzzle had somehow loosened after the initial attack on the humans. There wasn't enough slack to shoot a fireball, but enough to allow his jaw to loosen a bit. He returned his attention to the fallen humans laying unconscious on the ground.
Normally, the Night Fury wouldn't even think of sparing these humans their lives, but because of his rider's situation, he was forced to. With the final decision that time is of the essence, the dragon reverted his attention back to the door, and within the quick glimpse of black, no soul was awake within the room.
Without warning, a ferocious roar boomed throughout the arena, eliciting a collective but nonetheless apprehensive gasp from the spectators. But there, standing in the center of the arena stood a dark figure, snarling with anger and dissent for all who were gawking at him from the behind the safety of the arena chains.
Protests of anger and confusion soon erupted from the spectators, all demanding why such a dangerous creature was let free into the arena.
The dragon ignored the insignificant squabbles of the spectators and sniffed the air, before the piercing ting of metal rung vibrated through his ears. The dragon immediately traced it and leapt off the ground and spun directly at the source, where he faced Hiccup. The boy stared at him with widened eyes dreaded with fear as he was still firmly held by the grip of Tilgaurd standing from behind. But there, just above Hiccup's collarbone gleamed a blade of steel placed intently to declare him as a human hostage.
The Night Fury's eyes drew to the red splotch of blood dabbed across Hiccup's eyebrow, bringing anger at the realization that these humans had indeed harmed Hiccup. The dragon screeched with an extreme intensity, sending the village spectators scrambling to cover their ears. Streams of grey smoke rose out of his nostrils as a follow-up to the monstrous outcry that had simmered down into a ferocious snarl.
"Aye dragon. Come any closer an' you'll never touch the skies again." Tilgaurd stated with a tinge of smugness in the tone of his voice.
Toothless inched a step forward, before hesitating as the blade drew closer to Hiccup's neck. The prominently displayed smile of Tilguard aggravated the dragon to no end. The nerve of this human to use his rider as a hostage…! And with mockery in it as well! The dragon knew he needed to weigh his options carefully. Acting rashly would no doubt result in his rider's death. The boisterous clamouring of the spectators moments before had died down into an unsettling quiet, with each and every Viking uncertain as to what was going on. The guards on the other hand, scrambled in every direction imaginable, confused and in disarray.
Time seemed to stretch out as the two parties stood, planting their feet firmly arena gravel with no signs of weakness nor qualm surfacing from either side. Beads of sweat were easily seen streaking down the side of Tilgaurd's face as he stood still as a statue, staring into directly into the beast's eyes.
But then, a loud metal creaking noise made itself apparent throughout the arena, snapping all heads towards the two humongous riveted doors of the ring's entrance. There, streams of Vikings marched through the gates in a rectangular formation, wielding a multitude of weaponry from battleaxes to war-hammers.
"Stay strong men! Te' beast can't control you, nor can it kill you in such numbers!" A voice commandingly shouted from the approaching army.
In distraction, Tilgaurd turned his head away for just a split-second, before the Night Fury realised the opportunity and pounced with incredible speed. Using his steel reinforced muzzle, he slipped under the chief's arm and slammed away the sword as though it was a mere toy, before finally following it up with a devastating blow to the man's chest.
Tilgaurd was thrown a quarter of the way across the arena before sliding across the arena gravel, and finally skidding to a stop right at the army's front rank.
Horrified looks emerged from the formation, some even trembling under the fact that the Night Fury had just thrown their chief across the ring like a rag doll. But regardless, the Viking army held strong, pulling their weapons closer with anticipation.
"Toothl-!" Hiccup's cheer of relief was cut short as the dragon, without warning, dug his head underneath the boy's leg and raised him up, sending the young Viking sliding down onto the dragon's back. "Whoa-!" Hiccup exclaimed in surprise. The boy scanned around the arena and his eyes halted upon the sight of the doors, still left opened by the entering army. The Night Fury looked back over his shoulder his with his rider's glares met. The dragon immediately understood. Hiccup nodded in affirmation.
"Right, let's go!" Hiccup called. He silently prayed to Thor for the strength to be able to hold on and not fall and split his head open. And with a leap off his powerful hind legs, the dragon bounded towards the entrance, determined to escape for his own and of course, for his rider's sake.
Tilgaurd at this time, had already started to recover from the Night Fury's devastating attack and quickly got back up, while giving life-threatening glares at his second in command for such idiocy. The chief turned his shoulders back to the pair, and immediately realized their direct headings; to the still left fully opened metal gates.
"You idiots! Close the gates! Hurry!" The chief commanded, causing the idle guards to scramble to close the monumentally heavy iron doors. With a simple hand gesture from Tilgaurd, men began breaking from the ranks and rushed towards the doorway, forming a large cluster of Vikings where the doors were slowly meeting together. The army held up their weapons in an attack-ready stance, preparing both mentally and physically to take revenge on the black beast that had caused them so much woe in the past.
"Come on bud, you can make it!" Hiccup encouraged his dragon, but not without a slight tremor in his voice. The young Viking laid his chest down against the scales and wrapped his arms around his Night Fury's neck in a tight hold, opting not to break his neck in the process of their escape. Normally, Hiccup thought, Toothless would have no trouble dashing past the door at its such slow rate of closure, but without the saddle, Toothless couldn't chance going any faster, or risk losing him.
The iron door began to pick up momentum as the pair sped closer and closer, with the iron edges just a little more than six meters from meeting.
This is going to be close… Hiccup thought, quickly glancing up. They were so close to the exit, but the doors… they're just closing too fast!
Four meters!
In the background, the crowd roared with life, cheering on their own men as though this was a sport to them. Easily audible cheers of "Take down te' beast!", "You sho' 'em Tilgaurd!" shot through the jumble of sounds like an axe slicing through the air as it was thrown.
Three meters!
"Toothless, we're not going to make it!" Hiccup insisted, patting the dragon's neck urgently. The Night Fury shook its head in disapproval. "Bud, we can find another way!" The young Viking urged desperately. "There's no point in killing ourselves now by smashing into the wall, and then being skewered into cheese!"
Not a single response emerged from his dragon.
Two meters!
Hiccup laid back down onto Toothless's neck, sincerely hoping that his Night Fury did indeed have a better plan than killing them both via broken spines. The men's expressions were easily identifiable now as the two drew closer and closer. Bead's of sweat rolled down Hiccup's forehead, mixing with the pre-existing dried blood on his eyebrow. This is it, the young Viking thought; all or nothing.
With a last sprinting step just moments away from colliding with the army's front rank, the Night Fury leapt up high, and did a sort of half-screw that sent the pair flying sideways through the air and directly overhead the army. Hiccup looked over his shoulder as they passed by and saw the men's eyes, bewildered to say the least. And of course Tilgaurd, facing him with a full glare of anger.
The two slipped through the crack with mere inches between iron touching scales before a black silhouette immediately expanded from the dragon's side and stabilized the flight until they touched ground. Hiccup looked back at the closed steel doors, admiring his dragon's agility to pass through the doors without a scratch on nether him, nor his rider. Hiccup's admiration for Toothless's intelligence and cunningness was cut short as screams of anger exploded from inside the arena, commanding the guards to reverse the doors.
Toothless returned into a full bolt, running directly through the alleys and street ways, to the distress of the villagers that had not attended the execution. Consecutive screams of horrors ran down the street with some even trying to jab at the two with weapons they had stored in their homes. But as usual, his dragon leapt and avoided all with ease before they halted to a stop. Hiccup was about ask why they had stopped, but then realised his dragon was paying absolutely no attention towards him. Under the muzzle, a snarl rung out and Hiccup leaded over, realising that Toothless was staring furiously at a man under his front paw. The man trembled and shook under the dragon's grip before bravely glancing back.
"H-Hiccup…?" Oliver stuttered, full of apprehension.
On the side, both Mary and Ellen were staring speechlessly at him as a basket full of bread fell against the ground with a final sounding 'thud'.
Its been a long time… How have you been? I've been really busy, being dead and all.
In an irrelevant Portal 2 reference to respond to review number 77: Are you DEAD! I'M STARTING TO LOSE INTEREST IN THIS YA KNOW? PLEASE UPDATE!
No computers in hell friend. :P
But seriously, I've left this for way too long. Sorry guys, just too much of a combination between writers' block and procrastination. I actually had to write 3 variations of this chapter before getting one that I believed would be the best. So here you go and I hope to add more within the near future.
Don't forget to review! It helps me out a lot with motivation and ways to improve my writing!