A/N-A quick reply to a guest review

J. World: While I made hints toward future events back when Jurassic World was released, I never said anything about when. You won't be seeing such things in this book. And, your fantastical description won't be occurring either; that's well beyond the scope or the point of this series, and I don't have intention of involving any particular actors (most certainly at least not by name) in this.

Chapter 11

Big Problems

"So, uh, what exactly are we supposed to be doing out here again?" "Oh my g-Snotlout, do I really have to explain all this to you again?" "Well, um….wait, is that supposed to be a trick question, Hiccup?"

Hiccup groaned as he turned around in his saddle, already going red in the face from the ludicrous situation he was faced with. A couple days had passed since the fiasco at the ice nest, and we all knew that we couldn't put if off any longer: the whole team was making our way toward the famed "Dragon Island" to see what we actually were up against.

And, naturally, Snotlout was still, well, being himself, something we couldn't quite afford at that particular moment.

"Look," Hiccup snapped, "you and the twins are supposed to stay along the outskirts of the sea stacks and watch for any incoming danger. We will not be able to see outside the maze from where we'll be so it's up to you to stay alert, for once. Fishlegs and Ember will patrol inside the sea stacks themselves, and Astrid, Camicazi and Thuggory will scout out the coast of the island while Hawken and I check out what's happening inside."

"Oh, so you just want me and the two nuts to stay out of trouble, is that it?" Snotlout asked almost accusingly. "No danger, nothing to fight?" "Would you rather be the one running the risk of having your dragon turn on you and eat you?" Astrid growled in warning, bringing up the one thought none of the rest of us actually wanted to voice. Snotlout opened his mouth again to protest, but then either decided to be wise or simply didn't have a trump argument, so he stayed quiet.

We reached the edge of the sea stacks after only a half hour of flying, and much like in the first movie, they were shrouded with thick fog. Hiccup and I shared a glance; we had both visited the former nest on occasion in years prior, and the only time fog had been there then was when everything else was foggy as well. This was not a good sign.

As Snotlout and the twins split off and the rest of us headed in, Hiccup had Toothless glide over to me. "This place has been clear since the last Red Death was here," he said, voicing the worry we both had. "I'm really starting to think the fog is correlated with those monsters." I nodded. "I would bet so as well. Likely to keep unwanted guests like us out." Hiccup smirked. "Yeah, but it takes a lot more than that to keep dragons from finding their way through."

Fishlegs and Ember soon split off as well, Ember and Orhaganuz disappearing as the Shadowracer faded from visibility, and not long after that the peak of the massive volcano loomed into view ahead of us. As if adding to our suspicion, the air directly surrounding the mountain was completely clear of the fog.

"Okay guys," Hiccup said quietly, only just loudly enough for all to hear, "remember to stay low on your dragons, and let them determine what actions need to be taken. If you see something of concern or interest, you know the signal. I expect us to be out of here in twenty minutes or less."

We all nodded in agreement, and the other three flew off, practically hugging their dragons in order to remove their profile as best as possible. Hiccup glanced at me, and after both of us took in a deep breath, we turned toward the burning mountain. Hiccup had on his original scale armor (not the new Myscale one he was still working on), and blended in with Toothless' own dark covering, and I stayed Night Fury as well to blend with the dark rocks and shadows around us. We dove into the mouth of a nearby cave, and immediately, I noticed something was off.

Inside, we found the main chamber, and on every ledge surrounding us I saw dragons. Some I recognized immediately, some I did not. But unlike what I had hoped they were not acting fearful at all, or really acting in any manner. They all just sat there, motionless, facing the center. Their eyes were blank, pupils slits, completely unaware of us as we glided up along the walls and found a nearly unoccupied ledge.

Down below, a billowing fog was pouring out of the deep pit, a hellish red glow emanating from the magma far below us. "Well, we know where the fog comes from," Hiccup said quietly. "Though that makes it kind of hard to explain why the air around the mountain says clear." "Same way I can bend physics, only the dark counterpart," I muttered in return.

::Hey, guys, keep it down,:: Toothless hissed. ::I've got this buzzing feeling in the back of my head right now, and I don't like it one-::

::HUMANS?!::

That voice stopped us all dead in our tracks. We peered over the edge into the pit below, and after a couple moments all of us spotted the large, scaly, toothy snout rise up through the red-tinted mist. There was no mistaking it either: a thick horn on the snout, a trio of eyes on each side of the massive skull, and the warty, pebbly look to its skin.

::Yep, we've got another Red Death in here,:: I whispered.

The head swung around to peer in our direction, trying to see into the gloom that its eyes were not designed for. ::I smell humans,:: the loud, growling voice boomed again, as the Death reached up a paw to climb slightly higher up into the cavern, trying to find us. Even as close as it came, though, its eyesight was poor, and we blended perfectly with the shadows we were shrouded in.

::If you are here you cannot hide forever,:: the beast hissed tauntingly. ::I find all who are in this fortress, and if you escape from me, then he most certainly will when you leave.::

Hiccup glanced at me, and the same thought clearly ran through both of our heads. He?

We didn't get the time to ponder this chilling notion, however, before a loud squawk of terror echoed down the nearby tunnel, followed by a young woman's scream and a deafening roar. The three of us immediately bolted to the exit, easily missing the massive pair of jaws that reached up for us as the Red Death spotted us flying by, before we disappeared into the dark once more.

Outside, a frightening sight unfolded before us. Astrid was attempting to pull herself back into her saddle as Thorn fidgeted nervously, glancing around wildly in fear.

"We found something alright!" Astrid yelled breathlessly when she spotted us exiting the volcano. "Or, more precisely, it found us!" She gestured down toward the beach below, where the evidence of an attack was all too clear.

Jutting up from the water below was a massive crystalline ice formation, shaded in a green I had only seen in person once before, and there was a thin layer of frost on Thorn's tail, evidence of a near miss. Cami and Thuggory soon reappeared as well, breathless both of them.

"We need to leave, now," Cami urged. "We don't have enough people here to fight this." "What was it?" Hiccup asked nervously.

"Bewilderbeast, Fishlegs would probably call it a Class Ten," Astrid answered as we turned and hightailed it back into the fog-shrouded rock maze. "Well, that's just fantastic," Hiccup groaned. "We have two alpha dragons to deal with then because there is in fact another Red Death in the volcano too, and they're apparently working together." He looked at me. "Now that I think about it, too, that explains completely who he is that it referred to."

Silence took over for a moment as this sunk in. "So, that's why all the other dragons are so far under control," Thuggory mused. "Two alphas, working together; that means twice the control right?" "Then I'm glad that these guys still don't appear to be affected yet," Hiccup replied, patting Toothless on the neck. "We're going to need a whole lot of firepower to end this."

Outside the fog, we found Ember and Fishlegs waiting already with Snotlout and the twins. "There were ships anchored in amongst the sea stacks to the south," Orha spoke up. "They didn't look friendly, so despite the fact that we were unseen we didn't attempt getting close."

"Well, then now we know where the Bewilderbeast came from," Hiccup quipped, looking at me. Ember and Astrid also immediately caught onto what he was referring to. "You think he's the one who's got the Red Death working for him too?" Ember asked. Hiccup shrugged. "Well, they were working together in there, so I fear so," he replied.

"Can someone please inform us what you're all blabbering about?" Ruffnut interjected. We quieted, before looking at her with sheepish expressions. "Uh, just a theory really," Hiccup said quietly. "The movie we had watched involved a villain who commanded a Bewilderbeast; his name was Drago Bludvist. If those ships belong to him"- "And they were built similarly," Ember added, "-or someone like him, we're in bigger trouble than I thought. We need to get back to Berk and report this to my dad, now."

Soon after we'd fully left the vicinity of the fog, Toothless and the other dragons reported that the buzzing they'd felt in the back of their heads had disappeared, which led us to believe that the sensation was almost certainly the residual effect of the two giants near the volcano, but it had never reached a point even close to overwhelming them at all, meaning we didn't have to worry about our dragons losing control.

As soon as we landed in Berk, all of us headed more or less straight for the chief's house, and Hiccup led the march up to the front door.

"Hey Dad?" he called as he opened the door. "We've got a prob- oh! Uh, hi, Mom," he stuttered. Valka was sitting by the fireplace, dressed in an outfit more normal for the village than what we'd found her in (though normal is a relative term even then) and working on mending some sort of cloth. She looked up as we poked in and smiled.

"Hello Hiccup!" she greeted. "I was just mending a rip in this pair of pants here. Yer father's not in here at the moment." Hiccup blushed (probably because it one of his pairs of pants that she was mending), and cleared his throat. "Oh, okay, um…you-you don't happen to know where he went, do you?" "Well, I heard there was a bit of a spat going on between Bucket and Mulch a little while ago down by the docks, so he may be there," she offered. "Those two haven't changed a bit since I've been gone, have they?" She chuckled a little bit at that.

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. We'll go look there." He turned to leave, but Valka called after him again.

"What was it ye found out there?" she asked. Hiccup stopped cold for a moment, before sighing and turning to her, his face becoming shadowed with concern. "There is in fact another Red Death on the island," he explained. "And, on top of that, Astrid and Cami were attacked by a full-grown Bewilderbeast."

"Another one?" Valka queried, eyes widening as she stood up, setting the pants and sowing needle on her chair. "They aren't known to travel in regions near the territories of other Bewilderbeasts unless necessary. And they almost never venture near Dragon Island when they pass this way."

"Well this one has," Hiccup returned. "And it's friends with the Red Death apparently. And to top it off, there are ships in the sea stacks just to the south of the island."

This time, it was Valka's eyes that darkened. "Drago," she muttered, grabbing her staff and turning to exit the house. I stepped aside to let her pass and as the rest of the gang outside the door saw her look, they moved to give her plenty of space as Hiccup ran after her.

"Wait a minute!" he called. "Did you say Drago? You mean he actually exists?" he yelled. Valka whistled for Cloudjumper, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, and she leapt onto his back, the two of them heading for the docks. Hiccup groaned and hopped onto Toothless, the two of them and I following while the others chose to wait in the plaza.

When we managed to catch up to her, Valka barely spared a glance at us as she spoke. "The last time I confronted Drago, years ago, he'd found a very young Bewilderbeast," she said. "That was sixteen years ago, and he escaped from me before I could rescue the poor thing. He has a lot of contacts in the wrong places, and if that's him at the nest, then he has an ally somewhere and will waste no time in heading for Berk soon."

I glanced at Hiccup, whose eyes had widened considerably at this news. There wasn't any good to come from that.

We found Stoick, sure enough, still trying to settle some sort of dispute between the two infamous fishermen Bucket and Mulch. Clearly happy to have a distraction, he turned, smiling, to greet his wife as Cloudjumper landed, but that smile melted away as soon as he saw the look on her face. He also put two and two together when he saw Hiccup and I come in and land behind her, the same grim looks on our faces.

"Alright, what did ye find?" he asked cautiously. "A Red Death and a Bewilderbeast," Hiccup said, sliding off Toothless' saddle. "And they said there were ships anchored nearby," Valka added. "You and I both know about Drago's young aspirations, and this sounds a lot like him."

Stoick sighed, and glanced out over the bay, a frown of his own darkening the air now. "But would he really chance starting a war now that the tribes are allied once again?" he asked.

"If he has a powerful enough ally that he thinks he can win, or actually found a way to fulfill his plans, then I have no doubt he'd spring at the chance," Valka replied. "He hates me for the trouble I caused him in those years, and I doubt he's missed word of you surviving that fire so many years ago."

Stoick stood for a moment, observing the horizon as if expecting the man to appear, before turning to Hiccup and Toothless. "Get your riders together, and prepare them for battle," he ordered. "We need to end this now before he gathers the strength to make a move himself." Hiccup nodded and climbed back into the saddle again, heading for the plaza once more. Stoick looked over at Valka next, and an expression of guilt addled his face.

"My dear, I truly hate to ask this, but I saw the Bewilderbeast at the nest you lived in," he said slowly. "We could use every bit of help that we can, especially if he can be of any help in swaying the dragons away from the opposing alphas at all."

Valka stayed silent for a moment, obviously her thoughts battling between risking someone she clearly called a friend, and knowing it could be necessary. Slowly, she nodded. "If I head out now, I may be able to call him down here within a day or two," she said, and immediately turned to hook her staff on Cloudjumper's spines, hoisting herself up as the dragon simultaneously took off. Stoick followed her flight to the north with a concerned expression, before setting his mind on the task once more and facing me, expression hardening again.

"Ye have the most power out of any of us," he said, "and I'm not saying that te boost yer ego either. If we can level the playing field, take out at least one of the beasts, then we may stand a chance at getting Drago te drop this destructive idea once and for all."

I nodded, but frowned anyway. "Unfortunately we don't know who Drago's ally may be, or how powerful they are, for him to risk preparing an attack not only from so close but at such and angle as to be at risk from several of the other tribes." I looked to the east. "I know many of the emperors of the Middle East and Asia command great wealth and respect; if Drago has backing from one of them he could have the resources to fight us in a war of attrition, and we could wear out long before his resources do." Stoick nodded. "I know. That's why we can't wait for him te make the first move."

Grimly, I turned, and nodded my agreement before heading toward the forge as Stoick began to belt out instructions to those around him to prepare the village. Hiccup was already busy with the gang along with anyone else who rode the dragons, and he had only managed to more or less complete the Myscale armor designed for himself, and had the framework for Astrid's set out. We had scales from all the teen's dragons, save for Silverwings, and the other armor sets needed to be made still.

Everyone else had tasks to complete at that moment, even Gobber, but I had some time. Things were heading down a really dark path; I could feel it and see all the pieces falling together. It would be a cold day in hell before I let my friends ride into battle unprepared. This wouldn't be a fight we would survive if they did.

A/N-Alright people, I've given you some goodies to chew on until next week, so I expect to hear your predictions on what is to come! The next chapter is the beginning of the real battles, so be ready...

And don't forget to review!