Chapter Eighteen: How are we supposed to Fight Underwater?

Kyra couldn't help but walk through Berk and feel sorry for the Weedsnakes that lay scattered on the ground, their faces scrunched in ways she thought impossible for a dragon and their bodies contorted in such as way it made her feel sick. At first she'd hated these creatures for what they'd done...what they'd tried to do...but now she couldn't help but feel sympathy towards the ones who'd placed their trust in their elder and had paid the cost of that trust with their lives.

"The monster..." she whispered hatefully, struggling to keep her emotions under control. The anger she felt right now towards Wavewing was so strong she was on the verge of entering her Shifter State for the first time in three years. In fact, she didn't just feel angry for that - she was starting to get angry at Ivor as well. He had yet to return like he said he would - he could have stopped Wavewing from carrying out such a horrific deed. Even the Weedsnakes didn't deserve a fate like this, despite their hunger for power. It just wasn't right.

Black Night Fury scales were already spreading along Kyra's skin, both of her eyes had turned dragon like and her marks were flickering red. She couldn't remember feeling this enraged before. Berk's resident dragons were taking the dead away – both Berk's own and the Weedsnakes, all equal in death. Kyra was only calmed down when she felt a hand on her shoulder – however, upon turning around, she noticed that it wasn't Hiccup.

"I'm sorry," Artair muttered. "This can't be nice for you." Kyra avoided eye contact – she was still kicking herself for the way she'd spoken to Artair.

"It's funny," she scoffed. "They may have been awful...but no one deserves this," she added, her fists relaxing but still in a clenched position. Artair turned her around and lifted her chin gently so that she had to look at him. "Artair..."

"I know," he cut across. "I'm not here for that. I'm just here to be a friend," he comforted, placing his hands on her shoulders. "I can at least be that for now, right?"

"You still make it sound as if it's going to happen," Kyra pointed out, unable to keep the distaste from her voice. Thankfully she was saved from the situation by Heather calling them over to the group who were discussing the ultimatum Wavewing had made after Hiccup had translated it.

"I still say it's dirty play," Snotlout huffed. "How can you expect to fight a dragon without a dragon or Kyra?"

"Hey, we've done it before," Hiccup pointed out nervously. He'd already tried explaining his dad and Gobber how he had no idea how he was alive but they'd insisted on getting a full explanation later, despite his protests.

"Yeah, but those were with these guys," Fishlegs reminded everyone, indicating the team's dragons. "We've never fought something Wavewing's size without dragons before."

"Meh – there's always a first time," Gobber shrugged. "After all, we took on the Boneknapper without dragons and still prevailed."

"Only after you finally decided to give him back his bone," Ruffnut drooled sarcastically.

"I still get nightmares about that," Tuffnut mumbled.

"And that wasn't exactly defeating a dragon the old-fashioned way," Astrid explained. "We tamed him – something tells me we can't do that with Wavewing."

"I'm with Astrid on that," Kyra agreed. "And with Snotlout – this is unfair play." Hiccup also agreed with his cousin but he had no choice – there was no telling what Wavewing would do if he turned up with a dragon or Kyra. He didn't want to take too many risks. "What are we going to do?" she asked him. Hiccup thought for a while.

"Well, we're gonna need bigger pieces of oak, that's for sure," he noted. "Those bolts weren't doing much to him in the end." Tuffnut suddenly cut in.

"Okay, question: why is oak necessary?" he asked irritably, more at the fact that he had to ask a question than anything else.

"It's one of the only things that can kill a sea dragon," Hiccup explained. "That was one of the first things Wavewing ever told me and I swear I'm gonna make him regret that he ever did." Astrid raised her eyebrows – wow, she hadn't seen Hiccup as determined as this since he'd persuaded her to keep quiet about the location of the Dragon's Nest.

"Never the best thing to do," Stoick noted. Hiccup made a face but his dad ignored it. "You may need to use a longbow, son – at any rate an arrow made of oak may do more damage if what you say is true."

"And if all else fails, we'll stick a log in his path if we need to," Heather shrugged although even she wasn't convinced by her own suggestion especially seeing as Wavewing had forbidden Hiccup from having help from anyone except one person alone and no dragons. "Thing is, who's gonna go with you?"

"I am," Astrid replied instantly. Hiccup winced but he knew there would be no dissuading her so he made no move to protest. Kyra huffed - she would have preferred it if Ivor showed up and helped Hiccup out given that it was the least he could do right now after what he'd done but he still hadn't shown his face since the night before. She was beginning to doubt the guy and it took a lot for Kyra to get genuinely angry at the gods whom she knew could have funny ways of showing support. "If there's anyone Wavewing needs to answer to other than Hiccup it's me."

A fifteen minute argument might have ensued if it were not for the fact that Astrid was giving everyone her death glare again.

/\

The only way out to the Weedsnakes' territory was either by boat or by dragon – in the end Stoick asked the Defenders of Berk to pull the ship along to speed things up otherwise there was no way they would get there whilst it was still light enough for Hiccup to see where he was going.

"One question – how're we supposed to fight this guy underwater?" Astrid frowned, watching the waves go past as she leaned over the rail. Hiccup was sorting out some arrow shafts on the main deck – Kyra had allowed him to borrow her bow, which had actually been fashioned from her staff which she normally used to channel her magic ("I'm still with you in a sense that way.") for the upcoming fight.

"Beats me," he replied, chucking another shaft into the pile whilst Gobber took care of the fletchings and heads – they were barbed iron tips which would make sure the arrow stuck. "Unless Kyra can do something to allow us to breath underwater..."

"What did I say about transformations?" Kyra snapped from above, pulling the ship along at full speed with the other dragons.

"I still think Fiddlesticks was more useful as a Terror!"

"I'm being serious!" Astrid snapped.

"I'm thinking, alright!" Kyra huffed. Artair was keeping a lookout in the crow's nest and quickly glanced at Hiccup.

"How in Thor's name did you pull out of that one, anyway?" he asked. The question had been burning on everyone's minds since Hiccup had come out of the Infirmary alive. "There's no way anyone could have survived something like that."

"Well, you know me," Hiccup shrugged, wincing slightly as his chest twinged slightly. It still hurt when he thought about it and when something brushed against it. "Surviving near fatal situations – my middle name."

"Don't get cocky because you've somehow managed to survive being struck by lightning multiple times plus a lot of other things," Astrid glared at him. Hiccup cringed – at least he hadn't lost his other leg. That had really been what he'd been most relived about at the time. It was then that Astrid noticed something about Hiccup's bandages. "What's happened there?"

Hiccup glanced down to see that his bandages had been slightly singed in the area where his wound was. Gently rubbing the fabric, he confirmed that a small fire had in fact been there at some point.

"Dunno," he frowned. "Looks too small to have come from the Weedsnake hitting the Infirmary."

"I got you out by then," Toothless pointed out nearby, still ticked that he wasn't allowed to accompany his best friend. It was only Windwalker being nearby that kept him calm enough to not go into an angry frenzy. "It was there before."

"Hey, Astrid," Kyra asked from above. "Didn't you say there was a Night Fury with you last night when you were with Hiccup?"

"Yeah, and didn't you say that it wasn't Toothless?" Astrid sagged, wondering what on earth this had to do with anything. Kyra flew down for a moment, letting Windwalker take over.

"Ivor, the God of Spirit, has the ability to shape-shift," she began explaining when Hiccup jolted.

"Ivor?!" he spluttered.

"It's okay!" Kyra assured her brother quickly. "I got him back to his senses."

"And how in Valhalla did you pull that one off?"

"You did, actually," Kyra noted, crossing her arms. "Your actions meant that the fate of the dragons' gods – brother killing sister – couldn't be carried out. That freed Ivor from his own curse."

"Even now?" Hiccup made a face, raising an eyebrow in cynicism.

"Even now," Kyra confirmed. "I think we both know that you would never lift a finger against me."

"I couldn't if I tried," Hiccup scowled jokingly. Kyra smirked and went back to explaining.

"I should have mentioned this before but remember when Iv...the Darkwing first attacked?" she reminded the team, correcting herself briefly – she didn't want to associate Ivor with the Darkwing if she could help it despite how irritated she was at the moment with him not showing his face. "The curses and jinxes came into effect with the object they're aimed at comes into contact with its fire."

"Of course!" Fishlegs noted from Meatlug. "A dragon's power comes from its fire!"

"So it's 'fire power'?" Tuffnut snickered. Ruffnut punched him and told him to shut up.

"Not exactly," Kyra explained. "There's the normal fire that dragons use, then there's enchanted fire that only affects what is meant to caught in the curse." That explained why the Vikings weren't effect by Wavewing's fire before.

"That'll explain why you shot a fireball in my face back then, huh, buddy?" Hiccup realised, glancing over at Toothless who looked rather smug. Not any dragon could prevent a dragon's curse from taking full effect so he was rather pleased with himself.

"Also why the tail fin froze when it got caught in the fire," Astrid realised as well, remembering when Kyra shot a Night Fury fireball at Toothless' frozen tail fin to get it working again. "So, what you're saying is..."

"Yes," Kyra nodded. "The Night Fury you saw – it had emerald-green eyes, not bright green ones like Toothless. That was Ivor and..."

"When I wasn't looking, he used enchanted fire to help heal Hiccup," Astrid finished. Hiccup's green eyes were as wide as saucers – so the guy who'd cursed him in the first place and pulled him from the brink of death? That was saying something in terms of redemption. "But why only partially? He's still hurt!"

"Uh, beg your pardon, but 'he' has a name and is sitting ten yards to your right," Hiccup scowled sarcastically. He didn't care if Astrid was going to punch him for it – he just wanted to get his point across that he was still there.

"I'm guessing it's because there's only so much dragon magic can do," Kyra sighed. "As well as so much one person can take. Hiccup's already been under a curse for three years and a powerful one at that. No, it was best that Ivor made sure you had the strength to pull through so that your body could heal itself," she finished, looking directly at Hiccup who nodded his understanding. He, personally, had had enough of magic for a lifetime.

"STOP THE BOAT!" Artair suddenly yelled from the crow's nest. The dragons jolted to a halt and hovered in the air to keep the boat in place as a violet wall of fire sprung up in front of them, preventing them from going any further.

"What is it?" Astrid called up. Kyra was already on the job and leapt into the air. Once she was about sixty feet away from the boat, just before she reached the fire barrier, she froze in midair, her Night Fury wings beating strongly as she remained motionless above the waves. "Kyra, what do you see?"

"I think we've just answered your earlier question, Astrid," Kyra called back. Hiccup scrambled up the rigging and pulled out his telescope to find out what was going on to see that his older sister was right. Astrid's question as to how they were supposed to fight underwater had been answered.

Where the Weedsnake territory was, there was a patch of seafloor surrounded on all sides by a constantly churning wall of water.

/\

Hiccup strapped the quiver of arrows onto his back and hooked Kyra's longbow over his shoulder, trying to hide a wince as the string caught his chest. Astrid was armed and ready with a crossbow as well as her axe but both teens still felt unprepared. Hiccup glanced over at Astrid and could see the fear hidden behind the determined face she'd put on – he knew that he, at least, had to make this count, if not for himself or Berk, but for her.

"How're you two supposed to get over there, anyway?" Snotlout called from Hookfang.

"Snotlout's right – I don't think we can go much closer without putting the ship in danger," Fishlegs chimed in. A roar sounded in reply, causing everyone to cover their ears. Kyra and Hiccup instantly recognised the voice.

"Well, I was wondering when you were going to show up," the evilly dry tone of Wavewing sounded, warbled from beneath the waves. Kyra growled next to her brother.

"This is dirty play," she hissed.

"No one asked you to butt in!"

"Hey! Hiccup can understand Dragonese, but he can't speak it!"

"In case you hadn't noticed, Kyra – he can hear me speak," Hiccup interrupted before a deadly argument could ensue between the Weedsnake Elder and the Dragon Shifter. Kyra bristled visibly but knew that her brother had a point – he may still have the quietest voice imaginable by Viking standards but that didn't matter to dragons, who could hear a human shout from ten miles away.

"Which shall it be, Hiccup?" Wavewing taunted, hidden from view but close enough for everyone to hear him. "Will you face me on your own or are you too scared to face your maker by yourself?"

"I won't be alone," Hiccup grumbled. "But that doesn't mean I'm scared to fight you one on one." Astrid flushed slightly in admiration of Hiccup's courage. "Besides, it's only fair – you're the one who destroyed your entire school for power," he added in distain. Kyra shuddered as the sea boiled slightly in Wavewing's anger.

"You've got nerve, boy," the dragon snarled, hidden beneath the waves. "I'd hoped I'd be able to snap that out of you..."

"Well, Vikings have stubbornness issues," Hiccup shrugged. "Deal with it."

"How do we get to you?" Astrid cut in, although she had no idea what the other half of the conversation was saying.

"Your Astrid, I presume," Wavewing noted dryly. Hiccup clenched his fists. "I take it she is willing to stay with you in your final moments."

"Your mate would have too," Hiccup pointed out sadly, remembering one of the first things Wavewing had told him about the Darkwing in that he knew what it was like to have someone so close to his heart torn away from him. "Humans aren't that much different to dragons." Wavewing growled audibly, even from under the water, at the mention of it.

"I will allow your dragons to take you here. Know this, though – as soon as you lay a foot on the sea floor, they must leave."

Hiccup translated the sentence for the others before looking at his father.

"Son," Stoick sighed. "You don't have to do this..."

"Yes, I do, Dad and you know it," Hiccup replied.

"You're hurt...you're hardly fit to fight."

"What choice do I have?" Hiccup argued. "You saw how powerful he's become. If I don't do something about it...it could be the Red Death all over again. It's what he wants – I can't let that happen." He paused. "Dad, I need you to trust me on this."

"I do, Hiccup," Stoick sighed sadly, his greying eyebrows almost obscuring his eyes from sight. The pair remained silent for a while before Hiccup turned to head over to Astrid on Stormfly (he couldn't fly Toothless over seeing as the Night Fury wouldn't be able to fly back on his own). Just as he did so, however, Stoick gently pulled his son into a hug that seemed to last forever. Hiccup buried his face into his dad's shoulder, now just about being tall enough to reach it and knowing that this could very well be the last time he saw his father. Words passed unspoken between the two that even Gobber didn't need to step in to explain what the other wanted to say – father and son understood each other more in this one moment than they had in their entire lives.

"Bye...Dad," Hiccup gulped, breaking the hug and jogging over to Astrid who helped him up onto Stormfly. Gobber stood up from his seat and walked over.

"Now, remember what I taught you," he said, trying to sound tough but there was no hiding the sadness in his voice. "The whole village is rooting for you. Go give that beast what for!" Hiccup couldn't keep back a small snort – his mentor knew what to say when it was needed.

"Don't worry," Astrid replied, although her conviction wasn't all there either. "We'll be out before sundown."

"I'll have the homecoming party planned," Kyra joked weakly next to Artair. Hiccup could see their hands entwined at their sides although he wasn't sure if either had noticed. He looked at Artair and grinned though.

"Hey, Artair," he tried to smile but it came out more as a grimace. "If I don't make it outta this..."

"Yeah?" Artair pressed. Hiccup's gaze shifted between the dark-haired teenager and his sister before he replied.

"Take care of her," he requested. "Regardless of what happens between you two." Kyra blushed despite herself, as did Artair, as Astrid gently nudged Stormfly into action and the two teens took to the skies. Toothless whimpered sadly as his best friend looked back in equal sorrow – Hiccup whispered in a strained voice for Toothless to take care of himself and Toothless mumbled a quick sentence in Dragonese asking Hiccup to just come home. He also muttered the sentence again as a prayer, hoping beyond hope that he would be heard.

As the giant arena came into view, Astrid gulped at the sheer scale of the thing. It was as if someone had built invisible walls around the area to stop the water from getting in – that was when she spotted the violet flames surrounding the perimeter. She and Hiccup were going to be lucky to get out of this.

"Something's telling me that chances of survival are gonna be slim even if we do beat him," she muttered nervously.

"Yay for the vote of confidence, Astrid," Hiccup mumbled back.

"I mean it," Astrid huffed. "Kyra said a dragon's power comes from its fire, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, what if the fire's magic comes from the dragon?" Astrid wondered fearfully, indicating the flames. Hiccup caught on with what his fiancée was saying.

"I guess if Wavewing's going down he wants to at least take me with him," he made a face. Astrid had a point – Kyra had once told him that magic was nothing without a source. If Wavewing was defeated, then the magic keeping the ocean from falling in would vanish and if drowning didn't kill the teens then the pressure from the water most certainly would.

"Well, if that's the case, we'll both go down taking him with us," Astrid decided firmly, her storm blue eyes locking gazes with Hiccup's forest green ones. In return, he smiled his trademark lopsided smile. "Ready?"

"Kinda..." Hiccup grimaced. "Let's go."

Astrid led Stormfly into a dive and just as they were about to hit the sandy seabed, the teens jumped off and Stormfly shot back into the skies, crying in Dragonese to her rider prayers of hope and wishing both of them luck. A single tear escaped from Astrid's eye as she watched her dragon vanish into the heavens before she and Hiccup darted their gazes around them.

They were now alone and at the mercy of the Weedsnake Elder.