Chapter 5:
The upcoming battle will reveal the Infector's weakness, as well as the Weredragon's. Just so you know, their weaknesses are basically the same. Except that the Weredragon has sort of an extra weakness. And the Infector has a weakness that the Weredragon doesn't have.
The Riders had reached the Infector's Cave. If they had any intentions of ending the reign of terror, they had to find a way to get rid of the Infector. And they had to do it fast, before the cloud moved away from the moon. The problem was, they didn't know how to do it.
They'd have to give it everything they got.
Hiccup was the first to enter the cave, his Gronkle Iron shield in front of him for protection. After checking that the coast was clear, he gestured for the others to follow him. They all filed in the cave cautiously, not wanting to get bitten by the Infector themselves. "How long do you think it'll take for that cloud to move?" asked a nervous Fishlegs. "Hopefully long enough for us to figure this all out," Hiccup replied, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. Attracting the attention of the Infector without getting the chance to take action was the last thing he wanted to do.
It wasn't long before they reached the part of the cave where the rhyme and warning were written on the walls. It was too dark for them to read, or even see anything, so Astrid went back to the entrance to the cave to get Stormfly. However, she didn't notice the glowing, acid green eyes watching her. But Hiccup did.
"Astrid, look out!"
Astrid turned to see the glowing eyes, and dodged the Infector's claws just in time. Hearing the noise, Stormfly rushed into the cave, shooting fire and lighting it up. The light in the cave revealed the Infector, whose fangs were dripping green venom. It pounced, opening its mouth to sink its fangs into Astrid's arm. At the last second, Hiccup seemed to come out of nowhere, holding the shield in front of himself and Astrid. The painful bite that was meant for Astrid's arm instead made contact with the shield, shattering the Infector's huge fangs. The green venom splattered everywhere, landing on the cave walls and floor, and the Infector shrank into a ball, growling in pain.
Hiccup moved his shield to see what had happened, and his eyes widened when he saw the mess. Astrid also saw it, and she then grabbed the shield and slammed it down on the Infector's tail. The dragon howled in pain, the impact of the shield on its tail causing its bones to snap, and a thin cut appeared at the base of its tail.
Gronkle Iron was the Infector's weakness.
Thinking quickly, Astrid pushed the shield down on the Infector's body, hoping to crush it with her added weight. But the dragon wiggled free, turning around to face her. Despite having no fangs, it still had razor sharp claws that it could use to slice its victims. It pounced, but Astrid pushed it away with the shield. Realizing it couldn't attack while someone was holding the shield, the Infector started to make a series of mock charges, causing Astrid to back up a step. But she was aware of the Infector's new strategy. She backed up against the wall of the cave, keeping the shield in front of her. The Infector kept up the mock charges, drawing back with each one. However, it soon realized that its new strategy wasn't working. It decided to change tactics again. It bared its remaining teeth, which were dripping with some of the venom that had splattered everywhere. It wasn't as menacing as it had been with the huge fangs, but the venom made it almost as dangerous. If it bit anyone, the venom would drip off of its teeth and into their bloodstream, cursing them, like it had done to Hiccup.
But the Infector had made a fatal error. And it didn't realize it before a white hot flame burned its face. It shrieked in pain, the venom on its teeth catching fire and burning the inside of its mouth. While the Infector was distracted, Hiccup had gone over to Stormfly, asking her to shoot her fire at the Infector. The beastly little dragon had been so focused on spreading the curse, it wasn't aware of its surroundings, giving its opponents an opportunity to strike back.
With its mouth on fire, the Infector covered its face with its front paws, trying to snuff out the flames. Astrid seized the opportunity she had, and pushed the Infector to the ground with the shield. This time, the dragon was too injured to wiggle free. It continued to shriek in pain, the added weight of the Valkyrie on the Gronkle Iron shield slowly crushing it. Just then, Stormfly gently pushed her rider off of the shield, and placed her foot down on it, forcefully pushing down. There was a loud crunching sound, and the Infector's body fell limp.
The beast was dead.
The reign of terror was over.
By the time that the teens and Stormfly walked out of the cave, it was very late at night. They had buried the Infector's lifeless body under large boulders to make sure that it didn't get out, either by another dragon or Viking.
But they weren't off the hook yet. Hiccup was still cursed. He left his friends so he could be alone for a while. The cloud was still in front of the moon.
Astrid noticed Hiccup walk away, and decided to follow him. Hiccup didn't seem to notice her until she was standing next to him. "Coin for your thoughts," Astrid said. Hiccup sighed. "I thought that if we found a way to get rid of the Infector, we'd find a way to cure me," he said. Astrid shrugged. "We just haven't found enough clues," she said, "We'll figure something out." "How can you be so sure?" Hiccup asked. "I'm not," Astrid said, "But I know that there has to be a way to fix this." "So, it's faith?" Hiccup asked. Astrid shrugged. "I guess you could say that," she said. Hiccup sighed again. "When I Transformed tonight, I couldn't control the creature. I tried, but I couldn't. It was like there was a monster inside me, just waiting for the right moment to strike." Astrid turned to look at him. "You're not a monster, Hiccup," she said, "That was what the Infector wanted. And don't let anyone else tell you otherwise." Hiccup turned to look at her. "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," he said. Astrid smiled at him.
"Uh, guys?"
Hiccup and Astrid turned to see a nervous Fishlegs pointing up at the sky. They followed the direction of his finger to notice the clouds moving away, revealing the full moon. Hiccup's eyes widened as the moonlight enveloped him. His pupils thinned, and the rest of his eyes became a glowing green. They were now dragon eyes. His heartbeat seemed to increase in speed, and he started panting. "No," he muttered, backing away. But he couldn't move out of the moonlight in time to avoid Transforming. "No!" He groaned, and clutched his stomach, which was suddenly in pain. He fell to his knees, and Astrid backed away.
The Transformation was rather painful, and extremely creepy to watch. Green scales formed on Hiccup's skin, and his fingernails elongated into claws. The scales spread across his clothes, and small spines sprouted out of his back. Astrid watched, wide-eyed, at the sight of her friend becoming a dragon. Hiccup looked up at her, his eyes widened in fear and pain. Astrid understood how he felt.
He didn't want this to happen.
But there was no stopping it. His spine stretched out, and a long prehensile tail sprouted out from behind him. His clothes became less regonizable as they faded, becoming the scaly skin of the Weredragon. He didn't get much bigger, but his limbs widened, and his boots split into the clawed back feet of the dragon. Finally, his neck and face stretched out, his teeth becoming long and sharp, horns sprouting from behind his head as his hair disappeared. Astrid suddenly noticed two odd structures poking out of the dragon's back, and realized that the wings were beginning to form. She stepped back as the enormous wings shot out, spreading into full size. The Weredragon roared, the pain fading away as the last of the Transformation finished. It knelt down on the ground, exhausted.
Realizing that it was all over, Astrid started to slowly approach the Weredragon. The other teens watched her with wide eyes, Fishlegs muttering, "Bad idea, bad idea!" But Astrid didn't stop. She continued to approach, her hand held out in front of her. The Weredragon picked up his head and watched her as she came closer. He saw her outstretched hand, and immediately moved his head forward so that her hand rested on his nose. His eyes were calm as they stared into hers.
Just then, the Weredragon turned in the direction of Berk, and saw the silhouette of a Viking ship on the water. The Weredragon sniffed the air, and caught the scent of the Vikings on board. He raised his head into the air and howled at the moon before spreading his wings and taking off, heading toward the forest on Berk. He hoped that he would be able to hide in the dense shrubbery.
As the Weredragon flew off, one of the Vikings on the ship caught sight of it. It was Stoick. He scowled as the Weredragon headed back to Berk. In his mind, the Weredragon was heading back to kill more helpless victims, as it had done earlier. He was not aware whatsoever of what the Weredragon's identity was. The only thing on his mind was killing the beast, and getting rid of it once and for all.
Astrid watched as the Weredragon flew off toward Berk. Now that she knew who he was, she was worried about his well-being. There had to be something that they could do to help him. Without saying anything, she walked back into the cave, with Stormfly following. The other teens watched her go, and decided to follow.
Astrid searched the cave walls, trying to find a clue that would help them break the curse. Stormfly suddenly squawked, and shot fire at the cave wall in front of Astrid. A line of dried green liquid caught fire, burning to a crisp and falling off of the wall. It was dried Infector venom. The dried venom fell of the cave wall, revealing more writing. The other teens approached from behind as Astrid read the writing.
A symbol of true love will break an ancient curse.
"A symbol of true love?" Astrid wondered aloud. Stormfly squawked, and nuzzled her rider. Astrid turned to her friend, a determined look on her face.
"We have to go find Hiccup."
When the Weredragon landed on Berk, it was near the edge of the village. He decided to save energy by landing near the forest and resting for a bit, hopefully gaining enough stamina to hide in the forest until either the full moon was covered once again, or when the sun rose at dawn. Suddenly the torches near the village were lit, and Vikings emerged from their houses, with weapons in their hands.
The Weredragon let out a groan. How could he have been so stupid? He turned to face the Vikings as they lit small torches, trying to drive the beast back with the flames. The Weredragon wasn't too intimidated by the flames, but he shrank back in fear at the sight of the Gronkle Iron weapons that some of the Vikings were holding. Turning toward the forest, he lunged into the bushes, his green scales camouflaging him perfectly. He warbled softly as the Vikings began muttering about his reaction to the Gronkle Iron. "We have to inform the chief," one of the Vikings said. The others agreed, heading back to the village.
The Weredragon watched them leave, his eyes showing fear.
Three guesses at what can break the curse. And obviously, Stoick is unaware that he is trying to kill his own son. But hey, he doesn't know that Hiccup is the Weredragon. And yes, the Infector really is dead. Review, follow, or favorite.